DNA Synthesizer

[Andreas "Mega" Stuermer]

Hi guys, 

What is the cheapest way to synthesize DNA "at home" or in a self-built lab? 

Has anyone done this before? What method would you use? 

What piece of equipment have you used? 

I know there's the Kilobaser which is selling a device that comes with everything 

[Tom Knight]

Chemicals are so nasty you want to avoid this if at all possible. Big toxicity and flammability issues and they smell bad too. And they cost a lot. And cost a lot to dispose of. You have to really really want to do this and avoid places like IDT or Eurofins to make it even something to think about. Just say no.

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[S James Parsons Jr]

For what purpose?  Primer design, plasmid synthesis, custom genes?

On Jun 14, 2020, at 6:35 PM, Tom Knight <t...@csail.mit.edu> wrote:

Chemicals are so nasty you want to avoid this if at all possible. Big toxicity and flammability issues and they smell bad too. And they cost a lot. And cost a lot to dispose of. You have to really really want to do this and avoid places like IDT or Eurofins to make it even something to think about. Just say no.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/diybio/6CC620A5-DFED-4907-ABDE-021D8F3E35BC%40csail.mit.edu.

[Andrew Hessel]

I’m with you, Tom. Enzymatic synthesis systems will eventually be safe and nontoxic enough for home use, but until then the dedicated synthesis companies are the way to go. Plus, they’re not expensive.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/diybio/6CC620A5-DFED-4907-ABDE-021D8F3E35BC%40csail.mit.edu.

[Andreas "Mega" Stuermer]

Well, the idea would be printing out DNA in bulk so our stuff gets cheaper 

Thanks for the replies! 

[Rikke Rasmussen]

Having worked at a nucleotide synthesis company, I can attest to the general issues regarding chemically synthesizing DNA / RNA, especially what was said about reagent acquisition (expensive, hard to source), handling (flammable, toxic) and disposal (again, hazardous). I can't think of anything that would compel me to try this at home.

That said, Kilobaser looks interesting. If I were thinking seriously about getting something like this, I would definitely want to ask about reagent disposal (how do you dispose of the chips and other consumables), reagent exposure (if it breaks, is there any risk to the user), and synthesis quality. They do mention the inline trityl measurements, which will give you a readout of the coupling efficiency at each cycle (and thus a decent measure of how many truncation products you'll have in the end), but doesn't tell you anything about sequence fidelity. For sensitive applications, one or two mismatched bases could be a big deal, so fidelity matters.

If you *do* end up getting one, let us know!

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