Jugaad Lab
The instruments were made looking at the different processes that take place in the lab. We managed to make basic functioning lab equipment at almost 1/10th the cost of purchase.
As a design college, Srishti did not have any infrastructure to conduct experiments for the iGEM competitions. This was a makeshift microbiology lab built for Srishti School of Art, Design & Tech. in collaboration with Prof. Yashas Shetty.
PROTECT & SUSTAIN - Sterile Hood
Provides a sterile environment to conduct experiments. It is made using acrylic sheets, a car filter, an exhaust fan & a U.V. light to kill any unwanted bacteria. The front of the hood opens to conduct experiments.
Market Price: $800
Jugaad Cost: $100
MANIPULATE - Centrifuge
Helps separate liquids using centrifugal force. For this we used a hand blender (1800 RPM) and replaced the blades with a plastic disc. PVC pipes were used as vial holders at the ends of the disc.
Market Price: $300
Jugaad Cost: $20
MANIPULATE - Water Bath
Gives Heat treatment to E.Coli bacteria. It is a simple bucket with a hacked aquarium heater and a Styrofoam lid. A laboratory thermometer was used to record temperature.
Market Price: $925
Jugaad Cost: $10
GROW - Incubator
Maintains constant temperature to grow E.coli bacteria (37°). This is a Styrofoam ice box with a mosquito mat holder as the heating element & computer fans to circulate air. A laboratory thermometer was used to record temperature.
Market Price: $1260
Jugaad Cost: $10
OBSERVE - Microscope
Allows us to see microscopic changes in bacteria. this was a hacked webcam. we simply opeaned the casing & inverted the lens to create a 200x zoom.
Market Price: $300
Jugaad Cost: $20
DOCUMENT - Reactable
As designers, we did not know a lot about the field of microbiology. This multi-touch table helped us identify instruments and gave us instructions of use while conducting experiments.
This touch table uses a projector, laptop, infra red L.E.D.s & reactivision software to create an interactive surface that can read tangibles.
Market Price: $925
Jugaad Cost: $10
Experiment
The iGEM team successfully conducted a gene splicing experiment to introduce GFP (green florescent protein) gene into E.coli bacteria.The main problem with these experiments was contamination. Keeping the environment sterile was a major task. A task that we accomplished eventually.
Outreach
As part of our outreach program, we also conducted a microscope building workshop at the Drishya high school for the underprivileged and donated 6 microscopes to the school.
