Stories.

Discover diverse DNA lab work in action.

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Noah Bryan, Bayview Secondary School

Rapid Water Quality Testing

field research sequencing

Noah Bryan, a high school student from Bayview Secondary School in Ontario, has developed a groundbreaking portable water testing kit under the supervision of Dr Lawrence Goodridge at the University of Guelph.

Rapid Water Testing with Portable Technology

Chang et al. (2020)

Barcoding on a dive boat with Bento Lab and MinION

DNA barcoding field research research sequencing

Can you DNA barcode specimens on a diving boat with Bento Lab and MinION, with all of your equipment packed into a backpack? And how many species could you sequence in one batch? A team of researchers from Singapore undertook the challenge to find out, and produced one of the first and largest reported examples of DNA barcoding with Bento Lab and MinION to date.

Barcoding on a dive boat with Bento Lab and MinION
Chang et al. (2020) Takeaways from Mobile DNA Barcoding with BentoLab and MinION

Dr Cheryl L Ames, Tohoku University

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Wild Ocean

field research research sequencing

Dr Ames is is making it possible to predict the presence of specific marine species in different regions of the ocean. She uses Environmental DNA (eDNA for short), analysing traces of DNA left by species.

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Wild Ocean

Alcántara et al. (2021)

Open-source molecular toolkit to detect COVID-19

field research research

Researchers from Peru have developed a low cost molecular toolkit for COVID-19 detection, using open-source and locally produced reagents.
To test its use in resource-limited situations, they showed proof of concept by running the workflows with Bento Lab.

An open-source molecular toolkit to detect COVID-19 with limited resources
Unlocking SARS-CoV-2 detection in low-and middle-income countries

Hirabayashi et al. (2021)

Tracking Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in the Field with Bento Lab and MinION

field research research sequencing

Could it be possible to track the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria with field equipment?
Researchers from Cambodia, Japan, and the UK used Bento Lab and Oxford Nanopore’s MinION to find out.

Tracking Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in the Field with Bento Lab and MinION
On-Site Genomic Epidemiological Analysis of Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria in Cambodia With Portable Laboratory Equipment

Dr Bernice Brewster, Aquatic Consultancy Service

Catching aquatic parasites

DNA barcoding field research

Dr Bernice Brewster is developing new, reliable methods for identifying these fish parasites using DNA analysis. Working alongside Kingston University, and the UK Environment Agency, she monitors the introduction of new invasive species.

Identifying small invaders: DNA Barcoding Gill Flukes

Elizabeth Duncan, University of Leeds

Protecting desert bees

education field research research

Dr Elizabeth Duncan and her colleagues took a group of 40 students for a Mediterranean Ecology field trip. The students used Bento Lab to look for parasite infections in bees.

Protecting desert bees: identifying Nosema infections in honey bees
Sodium hydroxide pellets in a watch glass

Goudoudaki et al. (2021)

Fast DNA Extraction Platform for Biosurveillance

field research research

Can a classic DNA extraction method (hot alkaline lysis) be used for emergency microorganism surveillance and detection, and be used with portable field equipment such as Bento Lab? A team of researchers from Greece and United Arab Emirates find out.

A Fast, Scalable DNA Extraction Pipeline for Emergency Microorganism Surveillance
Fast, scalable, and practical: an alkaline DNA extraction pipeline for emergency microbiomics biosurveillance.

Dr Athanasia Dourou, BioCoS

Fighting Food Fraud with Bioinformatics and Biomarkers

start-up

BioCoS is using DNA solutions to tackle food fraud. They are applying their technology by testing the authenticity of olive oil.

Athanasia Duorou from BioCoS Interview
Fighting Food Fraud with Bioinformatics and Biomarkers

Dr Ineke Knot, NatureMetrics / University of Amsterdam

Portable Genomics at home and in the field

field research research sequencing

As part of her PhD, Ineke Knot used portable genomics to study parasites in great apes. Recently she joined biodiversity monitoring company NatureMetrics as a researcher, working from her home lab.

Ineke Knot Interview
DNA Barcoding of Nematodes Using the MinION
Protecting Great Apes with Portable Genomics

Dr Brian Douglas, Lost and Found Fungi Project

DNA-enabling UK field mycologists to discover new species

DNA barcoding mycology

Over the past few years, field mycologists (amateur fungal experts) in the UK have been using Bento Lab to help identify fungal biodiversity and characterise new species to the UK and to science.

“DNA-enabling” UK field mycologists to discover new species and DNA barcode fungal biodiversity
Lost and Found Fungi Project: Citizen Science Mycology - Dr Brian Douglas Interview

Dr Josef Vuch, Club Alpinistico Triestino

Barcoding the underground world

DNA barcoding

Dr Josef Vuch studies amphibians living in underground caves around Trieste, Italy. He uses Bento Lab to extract DNA and to prepare DNA barcodes for sequencing.

Deep, Dark DNA: Exploring the Next Frontier with Biospeleology

Dr Sophie Zaaijer, New York Genome Center

Rapid, on-site library preparation

field research research sequencing

Dr Sophie Zaaijer and her team have developed an inexpensive method to prepare ready-to-sequence libraries for MinION in 55 minutes, using Bento Lab.

Rapid re-identification of human samples using portable DNA sequencing

YCAM, Yamaguchi, Japan

Linking bio-art, design, and everyday life

DIYbio

Participants of YCAM’s Interlab Camp learnt DNA sequencing with Bento Lab and Oxford Nanopore’s MinION, and explored potential links with ethics, art, and design.

Interlab Camp: Personal Biotechnology

David Harries, Pembrokeshire Fungus Recording Network

Fungal DNA barcoding

DNA barcoding mycology

David Harries and the Pembrokeshire Fungus Recording Network collect fungus fruit bodies and sequence their DNA barcode. Their data contributes to a better understanding of the relationships between fungus collections in Pembrokeshire, UK.

Pembrokeshire Fungus Recording Network DNA Barcoding Exercise May 2019
Recording Fungi for local citizen science

Stephane Boyer, Unitec, New Zealand

Hands-on molecular analysis for every student

education field research research teaching

Stephane Boyer uses Bento Lab to teach molecular biology to students interested in biodiversity. His biodiversity research often takes him to remote places to collect DNA samples.

Biodiversity Research and Hands-on Teaching

Dr Karl Perron, BiOutils, University of Geneva

BiOutils: biology in every classroom

education teaching

BiOutils provide teaching materials and know-how to secondary schools in Geneva. Using Bento Lab, they are enabling every student to experience modern experimental biology in their classrooms.

BiOutils DNA Barcoding Protocols [fr]

Edoardo Gianni, London Biohackspace

DIYBio: Molecular Biology as a Hobby

DIYbio

University student Edoardo Gianni and his friends are working on their own biotech projects outside of the college campus. Edoardo has a passion dinoflagellates, marine plankton that glow at night. He wants to identify the genes that makes them glow.

London Biohackspace

Gianpaolo Rando, BeerDecoded

Decoding the DNA of Beer for precision brewing

DIYbio sequencing

Gianpaolo Rando is on a mission to understand craft beer at molecular level. Inside a Swiss biohackerspace he prepares DNA libraries for sequencing 1,000 beer microbiomes with the Bento Lab.

Decoding Beer with Bento Lab