Junkyard PCR: Cool science engineering
A neat example of how really understanding a scientific tool can lead to innovation of a simpler version. In this case, a PCR thermocycler (for amplifying nucleic acids, like DNA) was built with a glass slide and some wire! Normally, I wouldn’t post such a process-specific tool as a PCR machine, but I love the simplicity of the idea.
Remember when a thermocycler was the most expensive equipment in your lab? This may no longer be the case, but even so, the idea of building your own PCR equipment out of a rubber sheet, a glass slide and a bit of wire may sound like something from an episode of ‘MacGyver’. Nonetheless, a pair of German scientists have done just that, proving that reality can still occasionally get the edge on fiction.