DIY Biology at Home

How I worked on synthetic biology as a teenager and how you can do it too!

“See, so many people are scared of what might happen if people all over start trying things like this but ya’ know what I’m scared of? I am scared of people just left to die because people are more worried about saving their own career and their own paycheck than saving a human life” — Josiah Zayner, CEO of The Odin

If you’ve read other of my articles about Biology in the XXI Century, or Synthetic Biology in a Nutshell, you should already know that I’m a big fan of biohacking.

I won’t dive very deep into the concept per se in this article. However, if you want to know more about this topic, let me know in LinkedIn or Twitter so I can write about that as well :)

The Odin

About a year ago, I came across this pretty amazing site called The Odin. My first thought was “what?! I don’t have to belong to a prestigious institution to do cool science like this?”.

Some products you can buy from this biohacking store are: a CRISPR kit (under $170USD 🤯), a mini PCR machine, a human tissue culture kit, or even a full genetic engineering home lab kit!

To start off, I acquired a kit to make bacteria and yeast glow 🤩, so in this article I’ll be going through the process of doing things, with no special equipment, just the kit.

I wrote this article so you, and may more people can get an insight into what it’s like to actually build something in the world of synthetic biology. Not just theory, but practice.

The Odin CRISPR Kit

Understanding

The main goal for this experiment is solely making bacteria glow. I say solely because this is actually a technique that’s used in the field a lot, but only as a means goal, not as an end goal. Let me explain…

Why bacteria?

For starters, bacteria are tiny living organisms which are widely used in the field of genetic engineering. Thanks to their relative simplicity, and ability to reproduce very quickly, they’re ideal for what we’re about to do.

How do we *make* it glow?

Bacteria have different kinds of ordering their genetic information. One is linear (as humans) and the latter one is circular (these are called plasmids). The last form is the one we want to focus on, since it doesn’t require a major kind of genetic engineering.

The main thing we need to do, in most cases, in order to make bacteria do something for us, is to insert a plasmid that we have designed. In this case, the plasmid will contain a gene called GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein), which codes for the protein that will make bacteria glow green.

How to insert this gene

Just as our skin protects us from pathogens, bacteria need to have a protective layer called the cell membrane. Thanks to this membrane, DNA wouldn’t normally pass through. However, we can hack this system too.

Why make it glow?

In the first place, this question is obviously great to ask. Well, the answer in this case (a teenager playing around with biohacking kits), it’s just to learn and have fun.

In other cases though, scientists use GFP a lot to identify successful experiments. If they want to edit a gene, they can design a plasmid that contains the necessary stuff to edit the gene, and the GFP gene.

Transforming cells

Competent = bacteria cells are able to intake foreign DNA. Cell walls normally prevent things from entering, but mixing the bacteria with chemicals and salts changes this.

How to make sure it works

We will use bacterial venom! 😈 The plasmid that we insert into bacteria will also contain a gene that makes it resistant to an antibiotic. If bacteria can grow in a medium with an antibiotic, that would mean that it got the plasmid, and it’ll start producing GFP too!

Preparing

Know that we’ve honed in the main concepts, we can go ahead and learn about the materials and reagents that we’ll use in each step of the experiment.

Materials

• Glass Bottle: the kit includes one. I lost it, so I just used a normal one with a lid
• Disposable Transfer Pipette: it’s a simple pipette that will allow us to take work with small liquid quantities
• Petri Plates: some of the best known lab materials. Think of them as bacteria’s house, since it’s the place where the’ll grow
• Plate Spreader: self explanatory. It’s a utensil to spread stuff around
• Inoculation loops: used to spread and scrape bacteria
• Nitrile Gloves: sterility is key. They’ll help to keep everything clean and not pollute the environment
• 50mL Centrifuge tube: used to measure liquid volumes
• Orange UV Filter Sheet: when we become biohackers and make bacteria glow, we’ll need this to appreciate the glowing more clearly
• Blue Light: so GFP (the protein that makes bacteria glow) can’t do the work on its own. It needs the help of light that’s in the ultraviolet range

Reagents

• LB Agar: bacteria food! 🤤 It’s what helps bacteria grow and multiply inside the Petri dishes. In fancier words, it’s a growth medium
• LB Kan Agar: venom for bacteria! 😧 It’s an antibiotic to select for bacteria that got our plasmid (explained in more detail below)
• Bacterial Transformation Buffer: the ticket in! In this case, we’ll be using calcium chloride. It help us insert the plasmid into the bacteria
• LB powder micro-centrifuge tubes: LB without the agar. Meaning, the food without being able to turn into that jello consistency

Sterility

This is essential to be successful in an experiment. Use normal isopropyl alcohol to sterilize your hands, gloves, and surfaces before starting. Talking about surfaces, you don’t need a fancy lab bench or an extraction hood to do this kind of science. A normal desk or table will do the work.

Protocols

Quick note: these are steps that were designed and described by The Odin team in a way in which everyone can understand it. I don’t take credit for any of this, so I just paraphrased them and didn’t include the exact time or quantities to be used in each step.

Making plates

We previously mentioned that Petri plates are like bacteria’s houses and LB Agar is like their food. Well, in this step, we will be cooking some bacteria food and place it into ints house.

1. Mix LB Agar Media with water in a bottle. Shake it off! 🎵
2. Heat it in the microwave until it’s a homogeneous mix
3. Pour that mix into the plates. Let dry, and put the lids back on
4. Put the plates upside down to prevent evaporation liquids from dropping to the plates

You’ll notice that this is pretty much like making jello!

“Liquidizing” bacteria

Sometimes bacteria will come freezed-dried so they can last longer. The cool thing about this, is that only some drops of water will bring it back to life (to their liquid state).

1. Put some drops of water into the tube. Shake it off! 🎵
2. Keep that tube for later

What are we doing? bringing bacteria back to their liquid state

Taking Bacteria Home

1. Use the inoculation loop to spread bacteria onto a new LB agar plate
2. Allow the plate to dry before putting on the lid. Let the plate grow overnight at room temperature.

What are we doing? Helping bacteria enjoy the food and grow…

Making cells competent

Once you start seeing white-ish bacteria growing in your plate:

1. Use the inoculation loop to scrape some bacteria off and mix it into one of the Bacterial Transformation Mix tubes
2. Store in the fridge if you’re not performing the next steps right away

What are we doing? Preparing the bacteria to receive the plasmids

DNA Transformation

When I literally knew nothing about biotech, I asked myself what DNA looked like in “real life” and not like in the colorful textbooks. Well, I can tell it’s quite boring from the outside 🤭. If you were wondering, DNA is transparent.

1. Add the plasmid to the cell mixture you’ve just worked with. This mixture is called “competent cell mixture” because it’s ready to receive the plasmid.
2. Incubate in the fridge for 30 minutes, then 30 seconds in hot water

What are we doing? Now that the cells are competent, we can put DNA into them!

Adding LB media to that

Our bacteria have just received a new plasmid, and a lot of things are going on inside the each of them. We need to help them recover and give them some food. This step is key for thee experiment to work, so we should be careful with the timing.

1. Fill one of the LB powder micro-centrifuge tubes almost full water. Shake it off! 🎵
2. Put it into the cell mixture that you worked with the previous time
3. Incubate at 37ºC for 2 hours.

What are we doing? Letting bacteria recover and create those GFPs!

Antibiotic plates

As mentioned above, only bacteria that got the plasmid will be able to grow in this medium. It’s a very simple, yet useful technique.

1. Add drops of your transformation mix on top of an LB Kan Agar plate. Spread the bacteria around thee plate and let it dry
2. Flip the plate and incubate at room temperature for 24–48 hours

Did it work?

A successful experiment should looks something like this

Once you see bacterial growth, it’s time to know the truth…🥁🥁🥁

1. Shine the blue light on the bacteria while holding the orange UV filter sheet

An important note that is mentioned in the instructions for this experiment, is that science doesn’t always work at first. If you didn’t get it right in the first, or second time, keep on trying. Those beautiful glowing bacteria are waiting for you! :)

Debriefing

Working with an educational science kit like this one has been, without a doubt, the most fulfilling experience that I’ve had throughout my journey in biotech.

Having hands-on biotech at home has become especially valuable in these times when I can’t even get access to my school’s lab. And after hours of bibliographical research, it definitely feels great to actually build something.

I personally don’t mind about the ethical concerns related to genetically modifying organisms per se. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with altering the code that has remained almost the same for centuries.

My main concern though, is about the real consequences that this could have. Bio-terrorism can’t be ignored, and altering our ecosystems without thinking it twice, could turn out terribly as well.

However, I’m aware that these genetic engineering kits are carefully designed to be in line with the necessary bio-safety standards. The genetic material that is currently offered by The Odin can, in no way, be hazardous to any organism.

The purpose behind this article was to show you that you don’t need fancy equipment, nor experience to get started. Therefore, my best conclusion is: Let’s GROW something together!

Note: stay tuned in my YouTube channel to watch a video about this topic

Hey! I’m Sofi, a 16-year-old girl who’s extremely passionate about biotech, human longevity, and innovation itself 🦄. I’m learning a lot about exponential technologies to start a company that impacts the world positively 🚀. I love writing articles about scientific innovations to show you the amazing future that awaits us!
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