About lab skills workshops:
In this ongoing series of 1-2 day courses at Biotech without Borders, we’re inviting people of all skill levels together to complete a small teaching exercise in order to learn about laboratory work. We will cover the proper use of equipment and the real world application of the techniques being practiced.

Prepare & Analyze a DNA molecular weight ladder
How does a scientist know the length of a fragment of DNA? A routine approach is by comparing the fragment to other fragments of known sizes using a technique called gel electrophoresis. In this workshop, you will prepare your own DNA “ruler” by cutting a circular piece of DNA with enzymes called restriction endonucleases that act as tiny molecular scissors. The discovery of these enzymes in the 1970s was key to establishing the field of genetic engineering. Visualizing the resulting fragments of DNA on a gel is a technique used every day in labs all around the world. Participants will get hands-on experience using restriction enzymes, micropipettes, gel electrophoresis equipment, a heat block and a UV transilluminator.

DannyChan (he/they) is a trained microbiologist who is passionate about frugal and open science. After leaving academia he worked as a fact-checker for pharmaceutical ads. He currently serves as the President and a member of Biotech Without Borders (BwoB), a non-profit all-volunteer community biology lab in NYC. BwoB aims to organize its members into a collective that can maintain a shared biological lab space in service of its mission to make biotechnology more broadly accessible and understandable. He is a Ronin Institute scholar, a host of an online microbiology journal club, as well as a member of the Free Rads, and Translate Science. In 2021 he was aGlobal Community Biosummit Fellowand in 2023 he was a Open Life Science Fellow. You can find him in cyberspace on the fediverse @danwchan@scholar.social; or in meatspace at the BwoB lab, or other hackerspaces in NYC.