Parametric Gel Electrophoresis System

thingiverse

The first open-source parametric gel box - create any size and from any acrylic sheet with your laser cutter. Follow the detailed documentation on DocuBricks: https://docubricks.com/viewer.jsp?id=3540694571097352192 (https://docubricks.com/search.jsp). It can be customised online via the Onshape design (explained in detail on DocuBricks). Gel electrophoresis systems are one of the most common tools used by scientists working with DNA in experiments. Yet existing commercial solutions are expensive and non-customizable. Gel electrophoresis systems do not follow many standards so with the open-source parametric system presented here, there is nothing that stops you from building a gel system in the size that best suits your needs - for a fraction of the price of a commercial system. This gel system was designed to be of research-grade quality, safe, easy to build and easy to modify. This documentation contains construction files for building a small gel electrophoresis system with a gel size of 100x70mm and two comb slots. This documentation also explains how to customise the online design around 10 main and 7 minor parameters (without installing any software) and how to easily download and make the modified gel box. The virtual gel box automatically adapts to the parameter changes. Besides changing parameters like the gel size and number of comb slots and comb teeth, you can also change the sheet thickness of the acrylic sheet you use for laser cutting, to account for regional availabilities and differences in manufacturing tolerances. The electrophoresis system described here also adapts the buffer volume of the tank according to the gel size you choose. This works well from very small to very large gel sizes up to 500 square centimetres, for larger industrial-sized gels you might need less buffer than estimated by my algorithm. Overview and Background Relevance Gel electrophoresis is one of the core methods in DNA analysis and purification. Finally, here is a customisable, safe and open-source solution. Lesson Plan and Activity Gel Electrophoresis This gelbox can be used to either teach digital engineering methods or (assembled), to teach important biology concepts with gel electrophoresis, such as charges in molecules or DNA separation. Materials Needed Two sizes of acylc sheets and small general electrical components from the local component provider. To run a DNA gel electrophoresis, further materials are required such as Agarose (from supermarket), DNA dye (potentially hazardous) and a high voltage power source.