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bento.bio
We make Bento Lab = a portable PCR workstation. Content about DNA methods, field work and more. https://bento.bio
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Are you curious about doing molecular biology and PCR outside a traditional lab, and wondering what it would involve? If you are, check out our Lab@Home vlog series by Dr. Jenny Shelton – available on Youtube and the Bento Lab Knowledge Hub. bento.bio/resources/la...

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

Have you ever made an agarose gel in the field with NO microwave? We tested 4 different ways of running gels without access to a microwave. See our full results in the link below. Whether you're in the field, running an outreach event, or making do, there are plenty of clever workarounds.

submitted 36 days ago • 1 comment

Want to teach DNA barcoding, but not sure where to start? We’ve rounded up 4 lesson plans packed with practical steps — from field sampling to phylogenetics — designed for high school & undergrad classrooms. Learn more: bento.bio/resources/ed...

submitted 40 days ago • 0 comments

Have you ever made an agarose gel in the field with NO microwave? We tested 4 different ways of running gels without access to a microwave. See our full results in the link below. Whether you're in the field, running an outreach event, or making do, there are plenty of clever workarounds.

submitted 36 days ago • 1 comment

Want to teach DNA barcoding, but not sure where to start? We’ve rounded up 4 lesson plans packed with practical steps — from field sampling to phylogenetics — designed for high school & undergrad classrooms. Learn more: bento.bio/resources/ed...

submitted 40 days ago • 0 comments

Here’s a recent low-cost method for extracting DNA from tape lifts: ~£0.12/sample vs. £3.50/sample for commercial kits, with comparable results for saliva and blood. Developed for forensic purposes (Kuffel et al., 2024), it might also be useful for household molds or other tape-based sampling.

submitted 69 days ago • 1 comment

We are excited to see this new preprint for a molecular detection toolbox for bacterial antibiotic resistance gene markers, with different workflows for 1) well-equipped labs, 2) equipment-poor labs, and 3) portable uses with Bento Lab & lateral flow strips! 👇

submitted 49 days ago • 1 comment

Here’s a recent low-cost method for extracting DNA from tape lifts: ~£0.12/sample vs. £3.50/sample for commercial kits, with comparable results for saliva and blood. Developed for forensic purposes (Kuffel et al., 2024), it might also be useful for household molds or other tape-based sampling.

submitted 69 days ago • 1 comment

If you’re doing DNA barcoding in a fieldwork or resource-limited context and you want to improve phylogenetic resolution at lower cost, here’s a method that allows the sequencing of 3 unlinked regions using long amplicon PCR and @nanoporetech.com MinION for ~€5 a sample. 📷 Timothy Dykes

submitted 69 days ago • 1 comment

Looking to use up your end-of-year budget? We’re obviously biased, but we think Bento Lab makes an awesome gift for your lab (and yourself!). 🎅 A PCR workstation for < $2000 that you can use for sequencing library prep, LAMP assays or just as your daily PCR. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tlq...

submitted 71 days ago • 0 comments

Looking to use up your end-of-year budget? We’re obviously biased, but we think Bento Lab makes an awesome gift for your lab (and yourself!). 🎅 A PCR workstation for < $2000 that you can use for sequencing library prep, LAMP assays or just as your daily PCR. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tlq...

submitted 71 days ago • 0 comments

For anyone interested in PCR enhancers, here’s a new study looking at nine readily accessible compounds that can be used with difficult DNA templates, examining their effects on polymerase thermostability, inhibitors, and amplification of various DNA targets.

submitted 76 days ago • 1 comment

For anyone interested in PCR enhancers, here’s a new study looking at nine readily accessible compounds that can be used with difficult DNA templates, examining their effects on polymerase thermostability, inhibitors, and amplification of various DNA targets.

submitted 76 days ago • 1 comment

How do you explain #eDNA 🧬 to non-scientists? I usually go with "It is like forensics but for animals", or "We get a sample and can tell which things live in an area based on the DNA we find in the sample" It seems effective but I wonder what other people in the community do?

submitted 79 days ago • 5 comments

We’re excited to share a great new proof-of-concept study preprint on portable in-field DNA sequencing to detect pathogens & their antimicrobial resistance from retail meat, lake water & wastewater treatment sludge, using Bento Lab and ONT MinION! 👇

submitted 85 days ago • 1 comment

Here's a very exciting PCR-enhancing technique that might massively improve your PCR yields and sensitivity, while also suiting low-resource scenarios: "NanoPCR" using magnesium oxide nanoparticles as a PCR additive while omitting magnesium chloride as a polymerase co-factor. 👇

submitted 99 days ago • 1 comment

For any plant pathologists or fungus enthusiasts doing DNA barcoding, here’s a one-tube rapid DNA extraction method from diseased tissue or tiny immersed fruitbodies that might be useful for DNA-based identification of plant pathogens.👇

submitted 104 days ago • 1 comment

Here's a great article validating the quick and super-easy "Squash PCR" method for microalgae cultures, by Yuan et al. (2024). This method could be useful to anyone who needs to microscopically verify a small sample and then use the same sample for DNA extraction. Squash PCR involves👇

submitted 104 days ago • 1 comment

Hi @bsky.app! Let's see if this works. 😊 This week, I got to visit @geomarkiel.bsky.social and talk about #eDNA, #whales, #CitizenScience and @ewhale-dna.bsky.social. What an amazing experience! Thank you so much for having me!

submitted 83 days ago • 0 comments

We’re excited to share a great new proof-of-concept study preprint on portable in-field DNA sequencing to detect pathogens & their antimicrobial resistance from retail meat, lake water & wastewater treatment sludge, using Bento Lab and ONT MinION! 👇

submitted 85 days ago • 1 comment

Here's an article that shows how (semi) quantitative digital droplet PCR can be done using a homemade microfluidic droplet prototyping toolkit. The authors detected and roughly quantified human GAPDH RNA transcripts using standard PCR laboratory equipment - very cool!

submitted 97 days ago • 1 comment