I’ve been meaning to create a new edition of my second novel, The Dark Unicorn, for a long time, and I finally did it, bringing it out in paperback and ebook (and AI-narrated audiobook) through …
I really can’t believe I neglected to highlight this one when it came out! Shapers of Worlds Volume V is, of course, the fifth (and final) installment in a series of anthologies featuring science fiction and fantasy …
My latest novel, the middle-grade/younger YA modern-day fantasy Fireboy, is now available everywhere! Buy it wherever you buy books, or have your local bookstore or library order it in! Or, get it directly from Shadowpaw …
Well, I did it again: led the Seven-Sentence Short Story workshop (created by science fiction and fantasy author James van Pelt) at a writing conference, this time, Wordbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta. Here’s the story I …
Here’s another seven-sentence short story! I ran the workshop again at Ganbatte, an anime convention in Saskatoon. It went well, and here’s the one I created, again with the instructions, created by noted SF short-story …
Another When Words Collide, another Seven-Sentence Short Story workshop, as I once again led a group of writers through this plotting exercise devised by noted science fiction short-story writer James Van Pelt. As always, I …
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Mini-DNA replicator
This is pretty amazing:
A pocket-sized device that runs on two AA batteries and copies DNA as accurately as expensive lab equipment has been developed by researchers in the US.
The device has no moving parts and costs just $10 to make. It runs polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), to generate billions of identical copies of a DNA strand, in as little as 20 minutes. This is much faster than the machines currently in use, which take several hours.
Copying DNA is important for a number of medical tests, such as diagnosing tuberculosis. The hope is that devices like this may make high-tech medicine more readily available in developing countries.
Maybe it’ll bring down medical costs in a few developed countries, too.
Permanent link to this article: https://edwardwillett.com/2007/05/mini-dna-replicator/
