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Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR is a common tool used in the field of biology to amplify DNA or RNA. Invented by Dr. Kary Mullis, PCR is conducted trough cycling DNA, primers and enzyme through various temperatures. Generally starting with a value near and above 90 degrees Celsius; used to break the Hydrogen bonds between double strands a process called denaturation. The machine then cools down to annealing temperature, with values near 50-60 degrees, at this point primers are able to attach to the template strand of DNA. This stage is then followed by extension temperature, around 72 degrees, at this point the polymerase is able to extend and add nucleotides to the primer.
Although the process of amplifying genetic material is remarkable, the hardware needed to do such is simple, all that is required are three different temperatures which are maintained enabling the enzymes and template to do the work. Current PCR machines cost in the thousands of dollars, and although there exist open source PCR machines their costs also range in the hundreds of dollars. Here at Maryland we thought that that was an absurd notion. PCR because of its simplicity and utility, is a robust tool for the diagnosis of many diseases both in the developed and developing world. Making the device cheaper would enable more people accessibility to this platform. Accessibility enables for further innovation and development of novel methods for disease detection and this in turn enables for better and faster diagnosis and treatment both in the developed and developing world.
Another major advantage of "cheap" is education. Here at Maryland we acknowledge that IGEM is a competition, however we also understand that this competition is also a collaborative, it is an opportunity for all of us to learn from one another and serves as the bedrock for future discovery, innovation, and new projects. We hope that our work with the PCR machine will inspire many more teams to tackle designing hardware. We hope that our current collaborations with Duke University foster better and more innovative projects from both of our teams. And most important we hope that our efforts will be able to inspire the future generation of IGEMer's and the newest members of the IGEM community; High school students.
I remember, along with my fellow teammates learning about PCR by cutting up little paper nucleotides and putting them into a brown bag and then having our hands act as the "polymerase" and pluck the nucleotides out and match it with the template strand we were given. I remember taking away very little from this "lab" other-than a few paper cuts. In subsequent years I went through a couple internship programs where I was able to learn in greater detail the steps of PCR and eventually able to design primers, program the machine and setup my own reactions. However I believe that if we truly want to bring synthetic biology to masses we have to allow them the opportunity to do PCR, not through a paper bag -conceptual understanding but a real reaction where the end products are the real deal, actual amplified DNA. We still have a ways to go... the enzymes have to become cheaper pipettes need to become cheaper, but designing a below 50 dollar PCR machine is the first step in this endeavor.
