Field mycologists (amateur fungal experts) in the UK have been using DNA barcoding to identify fungal biodiversity and characterise new species.

On a Mediterranean Ecology field trip, Dr Elizabeth Duncan and a team of students use Bento Lab to extract fungal DNA from bees, and run rapid PCR assays to identify Nosema infections.

We’re excited to announce the release of a new firmware release for Bento Lab. The update brings many new features that have been requested by user feedback, including multiple PCR cycles, better error diagnostics, critical bug fixes and more. We highly recommend all Bento Lab users to update their software as soon as possible.

Keep running experiments when power is not guaranteed, and take Bento Lab in unique environments. We have been exploring different portable power solutions.

Aquatic consultant Dr Bernice Brewster is developing new methods for identifying gill flukes. These parasites can invade the ecosystem through ornamental fish.

The E-Gel Electrophoresis System uses precast agarose gel cassettes for gel electrophoresis. One of our users, Wim Ensink demonstrates powering the E-Gel system from his Bento Lab.

We went to the international Barcode of Life conference in Trondheim, Norway to discuss DNA barcoding, citizen science and show off Bento Lab for field research, sample preparation and more.

YCAM is an amazing arts center in Japan with exhibition spaces, a theatre, workshop spaces, and even a biotechnology lab.
Over the course of three days, 30 participants explored the topic of personal biotechnology, using 3 Bento Lab devices to prepare DNA samples for Nanopore sequencing.

The earliest sketches for what would eventually become Bento Lab were drawn in the summer of 2013. Bethan Wolfenden and I had just spent a year visiting DIYbio communities in Europe and the USA. We were excited by the spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration and the potential for synthetic biology in citizen science.