A 3D Printed Electrophoresis System

May 7, 2016 | F.Lab With the centrifuge working well enough to extract DNA, and the stirrer waiting for a practical application to test it (stirring agar solution?), we've decided to move on to an electrophoresis system next to help visualize our DNA samples.

We're building a very compact, simple system to start with and learn from. From this, we can move on to bigger and better systems.


The characteristics of V.1 is an 51x86 mm footprint, a comb with 3 wells 3x5x8 mm (120 µL), and designed to work with 9v batteries connected in series and in turn connected to electrodes via a positive/negative alligator clip set. It also has a piece of acrylic placed between an upper and lower section of the lid, which are then friction welded together to hold the acrylic in place.

We've worked out a protocol to test it with since it's now printed out and the main chamber tested and passed as waterproof. The printing settings included a 2.4mm thick shell to ensure the water would not work itself between layers.

In case you're curious, the DNA extraction protocol will be the same one we used previously when testing the centrifuge (here) and the rest is from this Science Creative Quarterly guide titled: The MacGyver Project: Genomic DNA Extraction and Gel Electrophoresis Experiments Using Everyday Materials.

Being a DIYbio lab with no budget, you can see why that might appeal to us.

 If all goes well, we'll put up the files, the protocol, and everything else, both on Thingiverse and Instructables. And after we work out electrophoresis, we'll begin tackling a DIY PCR machine.

F.Lab is Thailand's first DIYbio lab. Check us out on Facebook here.