Why Gel imaging is important to synthetic biology?

Gel electrophoresis one of the most essential tool in biology, it is an essential part for restriction diagnostic test for nucleic acid, resolving PCR products, etc. Having a gel imaging tool in proximity can increase the productivity of the lab. In our case, since the closest gel imaging tools is far away from HKUST iGEM lab, we decided to build a Gel imaging system for our own use, using simple and easy to get material.

Material for DIY Gel imaging system

The DIY Gel imaging system mainly consist of five parts:

1. UV trans-illuminator
2. Color filter
3. Camera
4. Case
5. Computer with monitor for live viewing of Gel

We got our UV trans-illuminator as a donation from the life science department in HKUST. We ordered the set of color filters for XXX dollars from Taobao, an online shopping website. We purchased camera from local hardware store for XXX dollars. We built the case using XXX material, with the help of XXX, for XXX dollars. We connect the camera to our lab computer through a XXX cable for live viewing of the gel using digiCamControl software, which is an open source software. The total cost of the DIY gel imaging system is XXX dollars.

From Prototype to a Working Model

Prototype

Before we build the DIY Gel imaging system, we build a prototype to prove the feasibility of a DIY gel imaging system. Here is how we build this prototype:

1. We obtained a plastic bucket and drilled a XXX inches hole on the bottom of it.
2. We place a filter on top of the hole and put a camera on top of the filter.
3. A electrophoresed agarose gel stained with Midori Green is placed on top of the UV trans-illuminator
4. The entire bucket, with the filter and camera are placed on top of the UV trans-illuminator, and a photo was taken

Working Model

After we confirm that we could take Gel photo using easy to get material, we proceed to build a case especially for this purpose. With the case, the imaging system will be more durable.