Biology's McGyver: DIY DNA P.C.R.

Posted by michael on Tuesday September 30, 2003 @10:55AM from the cheaper-is-better dept.

joesao writes "In this short, charming interview, Dr. Eva Harris talks about popularizing biology by doing what she calls "knowledge-based" technology transfer: "...people purify DNA for P.C.R. processing with a fancy substance made of silica particles, which costs about $100 for a few milliliters. [...] So what we've done is buy a 20-pound bag of ceramic dust for $5 at the hobby store. And you wash the stuff in nitric acid and sterilize it, and then you have thousands of tubes of that substance. We're not violating anything because the commercial manufacturers have their way of doing this, and we have ours." Open-source biology, anyone?"

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NYTimes Article by Momomoto · 2003-09-30 11:16 · Score: 1, Offtopic

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