Methods

Volume 210, February 2023, Pages 36-43

BioBlocksLab: A portable DIY Bio Lab using BioBlocks language

Tongmao Ma a, David Méndez-Merino a, Graciela Uría-Regojo b, Cristina Sánchez-Fernández b, Lucía Giner-Sánchez c, Sara Guerrero-Aspizua b d,
Cristina Quílez-López b, Alfonso Rodríguez-Patón a

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymeth.2023.01.001 ↗
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Highlights
• A blockly programming language, BioBlocks, based on the MakeCode platform is
proposed to describe experimental protocols.

• The design and engineering of four different hardware modules: centrifuge,

thermocycler, electrophoresis, and incubator.

• An easy, affordable, and open-source way is proposed for everyone to do

experiments with DIY portable bio-labs.

Abstract
Standard molecular biology laboratories are usually made with complex, sophisticated, and expensive equipment. Unfortunately, most of these labs
are not affordable for everyone. In this paper, we show how we built a portable bio lab BioBlocksLab, made of four modules: a centrifuge, a
thermocycler, electrophoresis, and an incubator. We also propose a new version of a blockly programming language to describe experimental lab
protocols, called BioBlocks 2.0, which is based on the Microsoft MakeCode platform from the open-source project Microsoft Programming
Experience Toolkit (PXT). We run BioBlocks programs of real lab protocols to control different hardware modules with biological reagents and get
positive results. We offer an easy, affordable, and open-source way for everyone to do experiments with Do-It-Yourself (DIY) portable bio-labs.

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Keywords
Portable bio-lab; DIY-bio; BioBlocksLab; BioBlocks; MakeCode

1. Introduction
Standard molecular biology laboratories are indispensable for research innovation, analysis of data, and development of new drugs. They have
contributed to crucial medical and scientific achievements and they have brought significant improvement in disease treatment and diagnosis.
Nevertheless, molecular biology protocols require expensive machinery and need to be performed by professionals with large expertise in the
matter. Furthermore, these kinds of labs are not available to everyone and only a privileged few in developed countries can have access to them [1].
Thus, in recent years the concept of lab-in-a-box [2] has arisen. This approach intends to design easy-to-use, microcontroller-based, portable, and
affordable biology labs so that laboratory protocols can be taken wherever they are needed. The device would have a user-friendly intuitive interface
that non-professionals, with no previous knowledge in programming or biology, would be able to understand and control.

A bio-laboratory mainly includes the following modules: a) Centrifuge. In molecular biology, this allows precipitating and to isolate the DNA for
further study. b) Thermocycler. It is used to amplify isolated DNA from a single copy into millions of copies by performing a PCR (polymerase chain
reaction). c) Electrophoresis. It is the migration and separation of DNA molecules under the influence of an electric field. d) Incubator. An incubator
is designed to give cells and DNA specific environmental conditions, such as varying humidity, CO2, and temperature parameters. Besides, a fridge,
a spectrometer, and other modules may be used. Some labs are already being commercialized by brands like Feles One [3], Amino Bio [4], or Bento
Lab [5], but they are relatively expensive, their code is not open-source and their modules are fixed. That is, no changes can be done to the code or to
the distribution and components of the bio-lab. Herein, we want to make an affordable and open-source DIY bio-lab [6].

Bioblocks is a visual programming language developed by the LIA-UPM group in 2016 [7] to specify the main lab operations needed to run a biology
protocol. This language is based on the visual development environments Scratch, which uses puzzle blocks to develop code. Inspired by it, we
proposed a new BioBlocks 2.0 to control the bio-lab based on MakeCode [8], which can help people who don't have programming experience to
program their experiments in an easy way. Microsoft MakeCode PXT is an open-source and free platform for creating programs that run on
hardware. On the platform, users can use Blocks, JavaScript, or Python editor to code. Makecode offers an interactive simulator providing
immediate feedback on the program running [9]. What's more, MakeCode offers plenty of program educational devices such as micro:bit, Circuit
Playground, and so on. Because of the open source, it also supports users to work with Arduino, Adafruit, and many other devices. The main
contributions described in the paper are the following (see Fig. 1 for an overview of the main components):
1. A new version of a blockly programming language to describe experimental lab protocols, called BioBlocks 2.0, which is based on the Microsoft
MakeCode platform;

2. The design and engineering of four different hardware modules: centrifuge, thermocycler, electrophoresis, and incubator. These modules can be
controlled with Bioblocks programs;

3. An easy, affordable, and open-source way is proposed for everyone to do experiments with Do-It-Yourself (DIY) portable bio-labs.

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Fig. 1. Overview of the BioBlocksLab system.

2. Related work
Lab-in-a-box is a relatively modern term that describes a mobile science laboratory, built in a small container. The idea was initially created to
provide rural schools and communities with experimental science teaching resources. The box has modules that make it a portable laboratory
equipped with everything the scientist needs. The device would follow the Do-It-Yourself Biology methodology, introducing a user-friendly intuitive
interface that non-professionals, with no previous knowledge in programming or biology, would be able to understand and control [10]. A great
number of promising things could be done with this takeaway technology: Education: many schools do not have the space or the economical means
to build a laboratory. With this bio-lab, kids of all ages from all around the world could get started in laboratory practices from primary school until
university. This would support the learning-by-doing methodology [11]. Developing countries: these labs would not only improve education in these
areas but also help the early detection and control of diseases and infections in humans, animals, and cultivated fields. It could save thousands of
lives [12]. Covid-19: given the current situation with the pandemic, where there is a lack of testing facilities in many areas, a portable molecular
biology lab with a PCR module could be of great use to help restrain the spread of the disease [13]. War zones: in these areas, where there is no
access to laboratories, tests could be done to check the state of health of the population affected or the soldiers [14]. Ranching and agriculture:
portable labs could be taken to rural areas for early detection of plagues and diseases in farming, as well as for regular tests [15]. Biology as a hobby:
bio-lab-in-a-box are an affordable device, therefore, people could have them at home, to learn biology protocols or even do some easy DNA tests.

A market study has been carried out to analyze the Bio-labs that currently exist on the market. Bento Lab [5] is a portable compact laboratory. This
portable genomics setup is a professional and complete laboratory device. It can also be employed in educative environments. The co-founder &
CEO of Shiok Meats, Sriram (2016) described the Amino BioLab [4] as a bioengineering hardware kit that enables people to learn about
programming living systems through the use of DNA sequences. This can help to solve numerous biology problems. is a countertop-sized bioreactor
that allows, in a very simple process, to put your DNA program into bacteria and then grow and take care of those bacteria. Back in 2019, when the
researchers of this project were trying to get funding, Feles company (2019) defined Feles One BioLab [3] as a lab-in-box toolkit designed to allow
scientists and the general public to explore the biological world around them, adopting procedures and experiments performed in professional labs
around the globe. It is also an excellent vehicle for everyone who wants to start learning molecular biology through hands-on experiments, to
perform multiple basic home testing such as identifying if your vegetable is GMO or painting with natural pigments. These labs are already being
commercialized but they are expensive, their code is closed source and their modules are fixed. That is, no changes can be done to the code or to the
distribution and components of the bio-lab.

Thus, Biological Programming language for standardizing and automating biology protocols is very necessary. Ananthanarayanan and William [16]
developed a C++ library that allows scientists to represent the required steps to perform a biological experiment and they called it BioCoder.
BioCoder presents a protocol that is not only appropriate for automation but also to transform the result code into a readable English language.
They explain that BioCoder solves uncertainties found in existing protocols, and it could provide the appropriate framework for the development of
future automation platforms.

BioBlocks programming language developer, Gupta [7] described BioBlocks as a way to avoid the essential requirement of having programming
knowledge and skills, becoming a common barrier for those users who do not have experience in technical fields. Therefore, the BioBlocks project
aims to allow all kinds of users access to automation and programming. The project is based on visual development environments such as Google's
Blockly and Scratch. They use a set of blocks like puzzle pieces that can be linked collectively to generate machine-readable code. BioBlocks
development has been carried out through the customization of the Blockly block, its grammar, and its vocabulary. In this way, BioBlocks can be
defined as a web-based editor that makes possible the description of experimental biology protocols by dragging and dropping the pieces or blocks.

In addition, there are also other languages for programming biological experiments. XOD [17] is a visual programming language for
microcontrollers, started in 2016. As a supported platform, XOD started with Arduino board compatibility and Raspberry Pi. It is free and open-
source software. Carlo Spaccasassi et al. proposed a logic programming language that allows a broad range of computational nucleic acid systems to
be designed and analyzed that can automatically identify matching motifs present in the full system [18]. Ariya Shajii et al. proposed a Python-based
programming language for high-performance computational genomics named Seq programming language and its development and execution time
is shorter than both low-level (C/C++/RUST) and high-level (Python/Perl/Java) languages [19]. Savas Konur et al. present the Infobiotics
Workbench (IBW). This computational environment is used for the computer-aided design of synthetic biological systems and it supports an
iterative workflow [20].

3. BioBlocks
Devine et al. claimed that the use and popularity of embedded systems have highly increased during the last years [21]. One of the main reasons for
this growth is the constant creation of new devices and sensors that require this technology: home automation, wearables, industrial automation,
and smart grids, which are called the Internet of Things (IoT). They presented an open-source software platform for embedded systems like the
micro: bit. This platform has the goal of allowing non-expert programmers to implement software applications. The whole system is composed of
two main parts: the first one is Microsoft MakeCode, a web application available at www.makecode.com ↗ that provides an IDE for novices in
embedded systems.

MakeCode is an open-source platform that can be directly web-accessed at https://maker.makecode.com ↗. Additionally, it can be downloaded
locally through the GitHub repository: https://github.com/microsoft/pxt-maker ↗. Therefore, by downloading and installing locally the required
programs of the MakeCode GitHub repository, it is possible to access the platform's backend. Thus, we create BioBlocks based on MakeCode.
Aiming at biology protocols, we program corresponding blocks and later we can combine them into different modules to realize an experiment.

The design of Bioblocks is driven by three rules. The blocks should be independent. They don't depend on the setup of a given laboratory. Second,
the blocks should be adaptable. When meeting some special protocols, the blocks can be rewritten. Lastly, the blocks should be capable of
controlling hardware automatically. More specifically, we shorten the description of protocols and leave a place for variables where users can add
the things they need like a flask name, number, or temperature. When connecting with board and hardware, blocks can execute protocols, which is
proven in the next section. Inspired by BioCoder, eleven different parts of blocks are designed and different colors are used to distinguish them
(more details are shown in Fig. 2). The function of different blocks is described in the second rank. For example, In Measurement, blocks about
measuring, adding, collecting, and transferring are introduced. In order to show our blocks more specifically, an example is displayed. Fig. 3 [22]
shows a case of an excerpt from a protocol for plasmid DNA extraction. We translate it to BioBlocks languages as shown in Fig. 4. Apparently,
BioBlocks can illustrate all the details of biological protocols, and it is very clear to show the steps, operations, and notes.
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Fig. 2. Blocks in BioBlocks and examples.

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Fig. 3. Description of a plasmid DNA extraction protocol.

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Fig. 4. BioBlocks of the plasmid DNA extraction protocol.

Compared to the old version of BioBlocks, the new version has three advantages. First, the proposed BioBlocks can control the hardware by adding
pin connection information. Besides, different kinds of boards can be used and connected in the system, like Adafruit, Arduino, and Jacdac, which
offers more options for users. Second, the new blocks are high cohesion and low coupling. Blocks can be reorganized to realize different protocols. It
is more flexible. Third, users have access to change the blocks according to their needs which the old version can't do.

4. BioBlocksLab design
One of the main barriers faced by research is the high cost of laboratory equipment. To avoid this problem, a set of hardware using low-cost material
is designed in the paper. In a bio lab, the most used modules are Centrifuge, Thermocycler, Electrophoresis, and Incubator. Therefore, we developed
both the hardware and corresponding software of these modules.

4.1. Hardware design

4.1.1. Centrifuge
We built the centrifuge module using a heavy reused wooden board that acts as a support to prevent vibration and movement, then screwed a
SUNNYSKY R2204 2300KV brushless motor into the center of the board. Once the brushless motor was firmly fixed to the base, we were able to
mount the rest of the hardware system components. The first is the XXD 30 A ESC, which is directly connected to the three motor leads. To make
this connection, three 3.5 mm banana adapters were soldered to the motor leads. Then, the middle motor wire was joined to the middle wire of the
Electronic Speed Control and the remaining two wires were joined in parallel, which makes the motor rotate counterclockwise. We completed the
ESC installation by protecting the joints with insulating tape to prevent contact between them. A 7.4 V 35C lithium polymer (Li-Po) battery was then
assembled into the structure to provide the power required by the system. The energy flow goes from the battery to the ESC and the motor, in that
order. In this way, the ESC functions as an energy manager located midway between the power supply and the engine, making it possible to run the
brushless motor at different speeds. Instead of soldering the battery to the system, which would create a closed circuit, two alligator clips have been
used. The advantage of using this type of clamp is that the battery can be easily connected and disconnected, which facilitates the work of
implementing and testing the centrifugal module. Next, we assembled the microcontroller unit (MCU), which is responsible for sending the signals
to control what the centrifuge does. This connection is made with two cables: the signal cable and the ground cable, connected from the ESC to the
MCU. Finally, we assembled the rotor where users will place the 1.5 ml Eppendorf tubes. The designed rotor was 3D printed with dimensions of
58x58x26 millimeters and has a capacity for 6 microtubes. It has a central hole that allows the motor screw to enter. Once inside, a nut fixes the
rotor firmly to the motor. The assembling is shown in Fig. 5.

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Fig. 5. Assembling of Centrifuge.

4.1.2. Thermocycler
For the thermocycler module, we designed a wooden case with two layers. In the top layer, the set of electronic components was placed: a 3950 NTC
thermistor, an OLED SSD1306 128x64 pixels screen, and a 5 V/10 A 4-channel Keyes relay module. All of them were connected to the
microcontroller unit. Then, two 40 W 12 V heating cartridges and four 12 V/1.8 A CPU ventilators were connected to the Keyes relay and to a DC
jack female connector which provided the energy coming from a 12 V/10 A power source. The CPU ventilators were screwed to the walls of the
bottom layer, surrounding an aluminum metal block placed in the middle. This block, of dimensions 11 mm*25.5 mm*35 mm, had three holes on
top (to hold the eppendorf microtubes), two holes on its sides, where the two heating cartridges were inserted, and one hole on the back, where the
head of the NTC thermistor was located. This block aims to conduct the heat efficiently to the eppendorf microtubes so that the PCR reaction could
occur inside them.

The overall workflow, which is repeated throughout the whole reaction is the following: first, the NTC thermistor senses the temperature of the
block and displays the value on the OLED screen. Then, depending on the temperature's value, the microcontroller sends different pulses to the
Keyes relay, which acts as a voltage switch turning on or off the heating cartridges and CPU ventilators, trying to maintain the different
temperatures of each part of the PCR cycle (denaturation, annealing, and elongation). The wooden case has a cap on the top layer so that the
electronics can be manipulated. Similarly, in the bottom layer, there is a sliding door that gives access to the thermal block, so that the Eppendorf
tubes can be placed inside the thermocycler. The assembling is shown in Fig. 6.

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Fig. 6. Assembling of Thermocycler.

4.1.3. Electrophoresis
We have divided the hardware of the electrophoresis module into 2 sections: the circuit and the chamber. The circuit took the AC voltage coming
from the wall (220 V) as a power supply and guided it through an OEM A0010 transformer that turned the 220 V AC into 12 V DC, which separated
it into positive and ground voltage using an OEM K0050 female jack connector. From there, the voltage went through the Juntek DC-DC 15 A 900
W 8-60 V to 10-120 V Boost Module Step-Up Converter Power Supply, which amplified the voltage up to the one needed to run the electrophoresis
gel (the output voltage can be selected by the user through a LED screen). The next component was an OEM RL007 relay which was connected to
and controlled by the microcontroller, in this case, the MCU allows the passage of current from the computer to the circuit in order to adjust the
time. This circuit was connected to the chamber through FULARR® 4 mm Banana Connector Plugs to their corresponding banana sockets.
Regarding the chamber, it consisted of a 130x94x65 mm 5 mm-thick methacrylate chamber, with two 99.9% purity 85 mm-long-Platinum
electrodes placed at 20 mm from the base of the box, at 100 mm from each other and at 15 mm from the lateral sides of the chamber. The distance
between the electrodes determines the maximum voltage required by the device to function, in this case, 80 V DC (8 V/cm*10 cm). Regarding the
bridge where the gel was placed to run the module, it was 20 mm from the chamber base. The combs were designed to allow a load of 22 samples
per gel. Finally, we made 2 openings in the lid of the device to let the heat leave the chamber while it is running and avoid condensation. The
assembling is shown in Fig. 7.

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Fig. 7. Assembling of Electrophoresis.

4.1.4. Incubator
The structure of the incubator should provide thermal insulation to maintain the necessary conditions inside. To reduce the cost, a polystyrene box
(22x30x49.5 cm) is recycled as the main structure. Besides, the door uses the same material. To avoid resistance of the material, the mesh was
reinforced with wooden sticks which, additionally, facilitate assembling the shelves by embedding these sticks in the polystyrene structure.
Insulating tape and specific glue for polystyrene were also applied to reinforce the fixation between the shelves and the structure. DHT22 sensor, a
low-cost digital sensor that measures temperature and humidity, is used. We select a 25-Watt silicone thermal resistance (heating cable length is 2.7
m) that can be used in a high-humidity environment. For humidity control, a plastic container is put as the evaporation tank and a solenoid valve is
used to control the flow of water. The assembling is shown in Fig. 8.

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Fig. 8. Assembling of Incubator.

4.2. Software design

To connect the board (Adafruit-grand-central-m4-express) with the blocks, pin connections should be added to the blocks. Thanks to the flexibility
of BioBlocks we build in Section 3, we adjust them by adding pin connection information. Aiming at verifying the functions of different modules, we
make the blocks above brief and create an individual extension for them. Although the blocks in this part are short and simple, they can control the
modules we design in Section 4.1. For the centrifuge module extension, we implemented two software blocks (shown in Fig. 9). The first has the
purpose of calibrating the Electronic Speed Control device and it requires no interaction with the user other than placing the block at the start of the
experiment. The ESC model used for the construction of the centrifuge module needs a pulse of 1 second (or 1000 milliseconds) and then a pause of
5 seconds in order to be calibrated. Consequently, this is what the code behind the block exactly does. Once this process is completed, the centrifuge
module is ready to be executed. The second block is more complex and has the purpose of running the centrifuge module at different speeds and
times. This block requires the interaction of the user to pick a value for the centrifugation speed (RPM) and a value for the centrifugation time. The
code behind the block will send a different signal to the hardware depending on the inputs made by the user: e.g., Run the centrifuge at 14000 RPM
for 10 minutes. We have implemented a total of four software blocks for the thermocycler module extension of the bio-lab (shown in Fig. 10). The
first one initializes the OLED screen and turns on the heating cartridges through the relay. When the thermal block reaches a pre-established
temperature, the software block finishes its execution. The three remaining blocks correspond to the 3 phases of the PCR cycle: denaturation,
annealing, and elongation. In these blocks, the user can choose the duration of the step and the temperature at which it is performed: e.g.,
Denaturation at 94 °C for 1 minute. For each of the three blocks, the relay turns on/off the heaters and ventilators by doing small pulses to maintain
the temperature defined by the user. The temperature is measured by the thermistor, which constantly sends signals to the microcontroller for
temperature regulation. One PCR cycle is performed when the three blocks are sequentially executed. Therefore, to make a whole PCR, the three
blocks sequence will be repeated 30-40 times. Once this process is completed, the OLED screen displays “The PCR is finished”.

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Fig. 9. Simplified Centrifuge blocks.

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Fig. 10. Simplified Thermocycler blocks.

In the electrophoresis module extension, we developed two software blocks. The first one is meant to initialize and deactivate the machine and turn
it on and off. This is done by executing the code that controls the passage of voltage from the wall to the DC-DC boost converter using one of the
channels in the relay. The second block designates the time that the gel will be subjected to an electric field. It regulates the passage of voltage from
the DC-DC boost converter to the chamber using another channel from the relay. This block was programmed using a series of pauses that could be
selected from a dropdown menu containing the following options: 1, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60 minutes. The machine will be running for the time
selected by the user among the previous options.

In the incubator module extension, we developed three software blocks. The first one is used to settle the mode of the incubator, manual or
automatic. The second one is the start temperature set. And the last one is to control the valve.

Each of the four modules has a linked software MakeCode extension stored in a GitHub repository. To add an extension to a new MakeCode project,
users just have to paste the URL of the GitHub repository that holds each of the module extensions.

5. Experiments results and analysis

After the hardware is assembled, the extensions are added to the MakeCode Maker editor. We use the blocks to control and realize some simple
experiments. The designed hardware has not only proved to be functional but also has been proven to be able to rival professional laboratory
equipment.

5.1. Centrifuge
A digital tachometer, an instrument that measures the rotation speed of a motor or any other spinning device, is used to observe how many RPM
(Revolutions Per Minute) the centrifuge module can reach without any of the 3D-printed centrifuge rotors settled on the motor. Then we put two 1.5
ml Eppendorf microtubes filled with water and test them. Then replace water with pear juice, and Fig. 11 displays the Eppendorf 1.5 ml microtube
with pear juice before being centrifuged. And heavier and lighter parts of the solution get separated. It proves that our Centrifuge not only can get
the speed we want but also separate various components of a fluid.

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Fig. 11. Results of separating pear juice.

5.2. Thermocycler
To do this a simulation of how the whole PCR protocol is performed will be done to evaluate how the temperature holds at each stage. Here we use
three protocols. Protocol 1: in this protocol 30 cycles will be done in which the denaturation step will be at 94 °C for 15 seconds, then the annealing
at 68° for 15 seconds, and the elongation phase at 72 °C for 15 seconds. Protocol 2: In the second protocol 30 cycles will be done in which the
denaturation step will be at 95 °C for 30 seconds, then the annealing at 68 °C for 30 seconds, and the elongation phase at 72 °C for 40 seconds.
Protocol 3: the denaturation step will be at 95 °C for 25 seconds, then the annealing at 68 °C for 30 seconds, and the elongation phase at 72 °C for
40 seconds. The temperature changes of protocol 2 are recorded in Fig. 12. By comparing the change with the temperatures we set, the
Thermocycler reaches the requirements of temperature control.
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Fig. 12. The temperature changes of protocol 2.

We use professional Electrophoresis to verify the efficiency and the results are positive. We also compared our results with a commercial
Thermocycler. Fig. 13 shows the results of protocol 2 we did above. Lanes 1 and 3 are from commercial Thermocycler; 4 and 6 are from our
Thermocycler. Their results are both positive. In lanes 2 and 5 there is no amplification, this is correct because those lanes were the negative
controls.

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Fig. 13. Electrophoresis results of protocol 2.

5.3. Electrophoresis
We run our Electrophoresis at 90 V DC for 45 minutes, at 80 V DC for the same time, and the commercial model at 120 V DC for 40 minutes. An
image of the three devices working is shown in Fig. 14. Below the devices, there are electrophoresis results visualized using a transilluminator in Fig.
15. In each result image, from left to right, there are the weight marker, the separated PUC, the negative control, and the channel of the sample with
no DNA (no visible bands in this one).

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Fig. 14. First (left), second (middle), and commercial (right) electrophoresis modules running.

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Fig. 15. The results of electrophoresis corresponding to Fig. 14.

5.4. Incubator
To test the Incubator function, we mainly observe and record the data when it works. The temperature range obtained in the results is within an
acceptable range for cell cultures, however, the results show a significantly low relative humidity for cell cultures. Since the design for the humidity
control of the incubator is based on commercial ones, we believe that it is optimal despite not having reached the target value. And humidity
recording is shown in Fig. 16. These temperature and humidity results indicate that the conditions for cell culture are given in the designed
incubator. It is true that this low relative humidity can be complemented by a larger culture medium for the cells since as we have mentioned before,
the main function of humidity is to prevent the evaporation of the culture medium.

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Fig. 16. Humidity recording of Incubator.

6. Conclusion and future work

We redesign BioBlocks language and make a bio-lab named BioBlocksLab including Centrifuge, Thermocycler, Electrophoresis, and Incubator
modules. The new version of BioBlocks is friendly to users who don't know how to program and it is more brief and flexible. It can control the bio-
lab after adding pin connection information and connecting with different modules. The bio-lab we build can realize the main functions needed in a
biology experiment. Of course, this is the first version, and it can be improved and extended in the future by other teams.

All in all, the main feature of this BioBlocksLab is the fact that it is cheap, easy to use, and open source and one can select the modules to be
included in it. There is nothing like this in the market and it could have numerous applications in healthcare, education, and farming. Future work
could be focused on engineering additional modules for the bio-lab like Colorimeter, Stirrer, Storage, and Fridge, and make it portable by reducing
the size of every module.

7. Software availability
BioBlocks language is written in Microsoft MakeCode based on the open-source project Microsoft Programming Experience Toolkit (PXT). The
source code is available on GitHub (https://github.com/MateoMT/pxt-bioblocks ↗). The codes of different modules are also available on the LIA
GitHub repository (https://github.com/liaupm?tab=repositories ↗).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Tongmao Ma: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. David Méndez-
Merino: Software, Validation, Writing – original draft. Graciela Uría-Regojo: Validation, Writing – original draft. Cristina Sánchez-
Fernández: Validation, Writing – original draft. Lucía Giner-Sánchez: Validation, Writing – original draft. Sara Guerrero-Aspizua:
Supervision. Cristina Quílez-López: Supervision. Alfonso Rodríguez-Patón: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

Declarations of interest: none.

Acknowledgement
This work was partially funded by project PID2019-106960GB-I00 (AEI/FEDER, Spain). T.M. acknowledges a scholarship from the China
Scholarship Council (No. 201806450042).

Special issue articles Recommended articles

Data availability
Data will be made available on request.

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