Low Cost Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Instrument for Educational Market

Applied Biosystems Inc. Global, 2008-09

Liaison(s): Zainal Abidin, Mark Oldham
Advisor(s): Shenda Baker, Patrick Little
Students(s): Mark Hubenschmidt, Oliver Johnson (TL), Anna Lei

This project is a continuation of last year to build a low-cost real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machine designed to educate high school students. RT-PCR is the process used to concentrate a specific strand of DNA. The project goals were to optimize the existing prototype, incorporate a robust biochemical protocol, and create the firmware and user interface. The HMC team built and tested a prototype with automated thermal cycling, stable temperature control, and finer resolution for reading DNA concentration.