A low-cost smart system for electrophoresis-based nucleic acids detection at the visible spectrum

Abstract

Nucleic acid detection by electrophoresis is still a quick and accessible technique for many diagnosis methods, primarily at research laboratories or at the point of care units. Standard protocols detect DNA/RNA molecules through specific bound chemical dyes using a UVtransilluminator or UV-photo documentation system. However, the acquisition costs and availability of these devices, mainly the ones with photography and internet connection capabilities, can be prohibitive, especially in developing countries public health units. Also, ultraviolet radiation is a common additional risk factor to professionals that use electrophoresis-based nucleic acid detection. With that in mind, this work describes the development of a low-cost DNA/RNA detection smart system capable of obtaining qualitative and semi-quantitative data from gel analysis. The proposed device explores the visible light absorption range of commonly used DNA/RNA dyes using readily available parts, and simple manufacturing processes, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and 3D impression. By applying IoT techniques, our system covers a wide range of color spectrum in order to detect bands from various commercially used dyes, using Bluetooth communication and a smartphone for hardware control, image capturing, and sharing. The project also enables process scalability and has low manufacturing and maintenance costs. The use of LEDs at the visible spectrum can achieve very reproducible images, providing a high potential for rapid and point-of-care diagnostics as well as applications in several fields such as healthcare, agriculture, and aquaculture.

A unified quartet DNA gel electrophoresis instrument with integrated agarose gel casting, electrophoresis, staining, and imaging facilities

“…Characterization of these electrophoresis techniques relies on a type of device used, which also combines similar associated techniques such as pre-electrophoresis (like gel solution preparation, gel casting, well formation, and sample loading) and post-electrophoresis (like gel staining, imaging, and analysis) techniques that differ only due to procedural changes. Horizontally/vertically configured gel electrophoresis processes are utilized to characterize nucleic acids/proteins in commercial or indigenous systems [5][6][7][8][9]. The horizontal agarose gel electrophoresis process has been routinely used to study the integrity of nucleic acids and their interactions with other similar or different molecules.…”