The smallest DNA lab in the world

I remember that in the mid-90s on TV they showed a laboratory where they analyzed the DNA of different people (I don’t remember for what purpose). This laboratory was full of equipment and staff, and the size of the laboratory was rather large. Of course, all this can be just a television reception, so that the viewer can see “science” with his own eyes. However, no laboratory of that time, or this, can compare with a small DNA analysis device. Yes, yes, see him in the photo.

For analysis, only one drop of blood placed in the chip is enough. In addition to blood, unnamed reagents are also used, which make it possible to isolate and then analyze DNA. What is also interesting is that the whole analysis takes only an hour. Previously, such an analysis took about a week (or even a few days, only later).

The blood chip is placed in a kind of printer, which, in turn, is connected to a desktop PC with specialized software. Well, and in this "printer" DNA is already being extracted with further analysis of the constituent parts. By the way, an operation such as PCR (polymerase chain reactions) now takes only 9 minutes.

All this is developed by one of the divisions of the company Panasonic. One can only guess how much such a mini-laboratory can cost, unfortunately, this information is not yet available. If we are talking about tens of thousands of dollars, and not millions, then, in principle, most private clinics will be able to afford to buy such a device. And then the DNA “laboratory” will occupy one desktop.

See how this miracle of technology works, below:



via Gizmodo