I wanna be a biopunk!

[Dory]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopunk

Dude! That's like....so me. They're like the science pirates of the 21st century!!!

[devogue]

Too late. You need a willy.

[Dory]

Still got it, buster

Say, GFL, what do I need to buy in order to have a proper biopunk lab?

[GenesForLife]

A Computer, an electrophoresis kit , a PCR Machine , Pipettes, if you intend to carry out some genetic engineering you'll have to buy components by mail order, and culture them at home, for which you need nutrient media and bacteria, if you're extremely ambitious you can bring in a microarray facility, but be warned, these ain't that cheap. What is your budget?

[Dory]

A Computer, an electrophoresis kit , a PCR Machine , Pipettes, if you intend to carry out some genetic engineering you'll have to buy components by mail order, and culture them at home, for which you need nutrient media and bacteria, if you're extremely ambitious you can bring in a microarray facility, but be warned, these ain't that cheap. What is your budget?

I don't mind heavily investing my salary in this. I make 2500$ a month and if I stay frugal, which is easy since I'm living with my parents, I can easily have tons of budget for it. Thanks for those names, I'm seriously considering a biopunk lab now.

[GenesForLife]

Right, being a Biopunk can involve several different areas of activity, and I'm making up a list of resources with links for each...

Animal Cell Culture -

-CO2 Incubator http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=CO2+In ... m270.l1313 + CO2 cylinders, microscope for observation.
- Cell Culture kits (varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, will let you do the requisite hunting, media requirements will vary based on the type of project you are
working on)
- An autoclave for sterlizing your stuff, Autoclavable Petri plates, rubber gloves for safety, inoculation hoods/gloveboxes/laminar airflow cabinets. http://www.labx.com/v2/newad.cfm?catid=467

Molecular Work

- Centrifuge http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=centri ... m270.l1313
- Micropippetors and micropipette tips http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=microp ... m270.l1313
- Electrophoresis kit http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid ... Categories , you may have to buy your electrophoresis gels
separately.
- PCR Thermocycler http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=PCR&_s ... m270.l1313
- Genetic Engineering Kits - enzymes, plasmids, vectors et cetera, but you'll have to buy these based on project requirements.

Microbial Culture

- incubator, you can run the CO2 one without using CO2 , Nutrient agar, Petri plates, Forceps, a Bunsen Burner, Ethanol (for sterlization) , inoculation loops and needles.


General stuff

1) Weighing Balance
2) Spatulae
3) Distilled water (very important)

Really fancy stuff

DNA Synthesizer http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?rt=nc&LH_BI ... 86.c0.m301
Peptide Synthesizer http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=Peptid ... m270.l1313

For PCR, you also need to order sequence specific probes if you are carrying out detection studies, for instance.

[Feck]

Don't need the PCR machine It works just fine by hand ! (damnit the young ones today are soooooooo lazy )

[GenesForLife]

Don't need the PCR machine It works just fine by hand ! (damnit the young ones today are soooooooo lazy )

Teacup with PCR tubes , thermometer and boiling water on a stove

[Dory]

This shit ain't as expensive as I thought. I'll consider the pro and cons whether I really want my own lab....thanks so much for the detailed reply Genes. I got a lot to think about. I just got my chemistry course kit with the textbooks (and w00t w00t - stick balls!!!!) so I got a lot of material to play and study that isn't directly biology.

[Pappa]

I wish I could remember where I found that article about people creating GMOs in their apartments with DIY equipment.

[GenesForLife]

This shit ain't as expensive as I thought. I'll consider the pro and cons whether I really want my own lab....thanks so much for the detailed reply Genes. I got a lot to think about. I just got my chemistry course kit with the textbooks (and w00t w00t - stick balls!!!!) so I got a lot of material to play and study that isn't directly biology.

Oi! you better at least set up a microbiology lab...

[Dory]

I've thought a bit about it, and I don't really want to invest that much in lab-experiment-biopunking (which frankly doesn't even seem that real). I'd like to make a humble mini-lab though. Any relatively cheap and not-huge stuff I can buy that would be useful individually (like microscopes?) that you can think of?

[GenesForLife]

I've thought a bit about it, and I don't really want to invest that much in lab-experiment-biopunking (which frankly doesn't even seem that real). I'd like to make a humble mini-lab though. Any relatively cheap and not-huge stuff I can buy that would be useful individually (like microscopes?) that you can think of?

Nutrient agar, Petri plates, chicken incubator, Gram's staining kit ( Safranine, Crystal Violet, Gram's Iodine, 95% ethanol (which you can make from absoulute alcohol) and distilled water), inoculation loops and needles. You can have great fun growing bacteria and fungi, staining, mounting and taking micrographs of them. Won't cost much at all.

[Feck]

Samples could be sent from my kitchen (I still have a few things saved)

[Dory]

I've thought a bit about it, and I don't really want to invest that much in lab-experiment-biopunking (which frankly doesn't even seem that real). I'd like to make a humble mini-lab though. Any relatively cheap and not-huge stuff I can buy that would be useful individually (like microscopes?) that you can think of?

Nutrient agar, Petri plates, chicken incubator, Gram's staining kit ( Safranine, Crystal Violet, Gram's Iodine, 95% ethanol (which you can make from absoulute alcohol) and distilled water), inoculation loops and needles. You can have great fun growing bacteria and fungi, staining, mounting and taking micrographs of them. Won't cost much at all.

Awesome. Thanks a bunch

But wait a second, why a CHICKEN incubator? Are you saying I should focus my self-research-learning on chickens?