Hey PCR enthusiasts!

Here are this week’s highlights from Bento Lab.

Bento Lab Upgrades

• Software Update
  We have released a new version of the Bento Lab firmware. Based on your feedback, we have cleaned up some confusing interfaces. The update also fixes a bug when changing the centrifuge run timer and other small improvements.
  You can follow this guide to install it on your Bento Lab.
• Hardware Upgrade – A better PCR lid latch
  We are always making small improvements to Bento Lab. In the past weeks we have been testing a new PCR lid latch. By switching this small part to a new elastic material (and going through many cycles of fine tuning) we have been able to make the PCR lid opening and closing experience much more robust and consistent.
  If you want to upgrade your existing Bento Lab lid latch, you can order a free replacement part on our website here.
  Replacing the latch is a simple procedure that takes less than 5 minutes, and requires only a basic screw driver set.

Bento Lab on a Boat, featured by Oxford Nanopore

We were excited to find that the DNA Barcoding on a Boat story we shared with you two weeks ago was featured by Oxford Nanopore on Twitter (or “X”).
If you have been using Bento Lab and ONT as part of field sequencing workflows, we’d love to hear from you. It would really make our day!

Inspiration for Educators

Finally, we saw this fun video from Florian Leese of a hands-on eDNA teaching day and wanted to share it with you. Integrating real research into teaching takes effort, but it pays off, and this is a great example.