A few years ago, a friend and I were about to buy a few machines from OpenPCR(1) and embark on a molecular bio project, with dreams of getting a proper startup going. It never really went anywhere but we were astounded at the possibilities, with hardware getting less expensive and reagents being available to even a couple of dudes in a home lab. I believe the next 50 years will see a huge democratization of biology and it will be fascinating to see what happens. Imagine a GitHub for custom viral vectors or plasmids.<p>Unfortunately, this will also mean real bioterror events and I shudder to think what malicious groups could (will?) do with this technology once it is more widely available.<p>(1) <a href="https://openpcr.org/" rel="nofollow">https://openpcr.org/</a>
This is cool, but it means that the design, construction, test and calibration procedures and results for your self-built equipment will all have to be part of your experiment documentation for reproducibiliity.<p>I'm all in favour of DIY, but doing it right is vital in science. The book <i>Arduino for Projects in Scientific Measurement</i>[1] is a useful starting point.[2] Of course the principles and methods described apply more widely than just to the Arduino.<p>1. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Projects-Scientific-Measurement-Frontiers/dp/0999753614" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Projects-Scientific-Measureme...</a><p>2. But it's just a starting point. There is a long journey ahead.