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title: “Inventory”

It’s useful to have a list to feed to AI agents asking about procedures. Plus, as I build up lab capacity, there are things one has to buy in bulk which can be easily shared. I’ve already dumped a load of extras on one friend, and after the first PDX diybio meetup I’ve decided I should write up what I have (and what gaps remain) so that others can plan around it! If you have projects that could benefit from some of this, do let me know - together we can do more :) I’m throwing things in as I think of them, organization etc subject to change.

Biology

Strains & Plasmids

  • E. coli BL21 and MM294 strains, various colorful plasmids
  • Agrobacterium with RUBY plasmid
  • pDawn and pDusk plasmids (light-inducible)
  • Remnants of a Carolina Bio transformation kit

Media, Antibiotics & Reagents

  • LB broth mix
  • Marmite for making “marmite broth” plates/media
  • Rif/Spec agar mix
  • Kanamycin (supply from Seb + fish medicine “fiskKan”)
  • Ampicillin (enough for a few more plates)
  • Usually some agar plates ready-made
  • Zymo DNA Shield
  • Agar agar powder
  • Agarose
  • SeeGreen DNA stain
  • Gel buffer solution
  • Mini-prep kit (Bioland, silica columns)
  • Tween 80 (Polysorbate 80)
  • Span 80
  • Activated charcoal
  • Diatomaceous earth

Plant Tissue Culture

  • Plants in jars starter kit: MS media + various growth hormones
  • Agrobacterium injection mix (~50 ml)
  • 4 oz PP tubs with attached lids
  • Falcoponics stuff: moisture-wicking mat, food trays
  • Old grow lights
  • Hydroponic pH UP (potassium carbonate)
  • Hydroponic pH DOWN (phosphoric acid)

Stains & Microbiology

  • Methylene blue

  • Gram stain kit:

    • Crystal violet
    • Iodine
    • Safranin
    • Bibulous paper

Bio Equipment

  • Compound binocular microscope

  • Microscope slides and cover slips

  • Micropipettes:

    • 1–10 µL
    • 10–100 µL
    • 20–200 µL

  • Lots of pipette tips

  • Still air box (happy to lend out)

  • Grow pad, sometimes used as incubator

  • 3D printer heated bed, sometimes used as incubator

  • Rotary-tool-powered 1.5 ml microcentrifuge

  • Camping stove for flaming loops / sterile bubble

  • Crushed ice / hot water bath as needed

  • Instapot as autoclave for when things need to be extra sterile

Bio Consumables & Labware

  • Petri dishes: 90 mm and 60 mm
  • Beakers: glass and plastic, ~100 ml–1 L
  • Graduated cylinders / plastic measuring cups
  • Disposable pipettes
  • 3 ml syringes with needles
  • Syringe filters
  • 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tubes
  • 15 ml and 50 ml Falcon tubes
  • Small glass vials
  • 4 oz glass jars (~8)
  • Little PP sauce tubs
  • 3D-printed tube holders
  • Cling wrap
  • Aluminium foil
  • Ziploc sandwich bags sized for two Petri dishes

Chemistry

General Chemicals

  • Sodium alginate

  • Calcium chloride

  • Calcium carbonate

  • Sodium citrate

  • Sodium hydroxide / lye

  • Vegetable glycerin

  • Distilled water

  • Citric acid

  • Vitamin C / ascorbic acid

  • Epsom salts

  • KDP

  • Hydrogen peroxide

  • Ammonium nitrate:

    • Small amount dry
    • Some dissolved with CaCO₃ precipitate

  • Potassium permanganate powder

  • Pure caffeine

  • White vinegar

Solvents & Cleaners

  • Ethyl acetate

  • Isopropyl alcohol:

    • 70% spray bottle
    • 90%

  • Everclear / ethanol

  • Acetone

  • Lacquer thinner

  • Turpentine / mineral spirits

  • Clorox bleach spray

  • Dawn dish soap

  • Wet Ones wipes

Powders, Ceramics & High-Temperature Materials

  • Copper powder (~350 mesh)
  • Aluminium oxide (~500 mesh)
  • Small alumina crucibles

Chemistry / Imaging Kits

  • Luminol kit
  • Cyanotype kit
  • TLC plates
  • pH test paper

Lab Equipment

  • Digital scale (SF-400D)
  • Hotplate
  • Janky DIY stir plate
  • Label maker

Optics, Imaging & Light

Cameras

  • Thermal camera

  • UV “makeup camera”

  • Macro camera:

    • Lumix FZ80
    • Raynox DCR-250 macro lens

Light Sources & Optics

  • Large handheld flashlight
  • UV flashlight
  • 6 W UVC lamp for mutagenesis, sterilization, spectroscopy
  • Green laser pointer
  • Diffraction gratings (slide format)

Eye Protection

  • Laser safety goggles
  • UV safety goggles

Electronics

Computing & Controllers

  • Raspberry Pis
  • Raspberry Pi Picos
  • ESP chips
  • ESPCams
  • S3 Stick
  • A few BeagleBone Black SBCs
  • RAMPS boards
  • Stepper motors
  • PC with RTX 3090
  • Old Linux laptop

Components & Prototyping

  • General electronics component assortment, including Freenove starter kit:

    • Resistors
    • Transistors
    • LEDs
    • Other common components

  • Component drawers labelled:

    • RGB LEDs
    • UV LEDs
    • IR LEDs
    • Displays
    • Capacitors
    • DC motors
    • Servos
    • Potentiometers
    • Switches
    • LDRs

  • Breadboards

  • Jumper wires

  • Breakout boards

  • Ribbon cables

  • Various USB cables

  • Wall adapters:

    • 12 V barrel-jack supplies
    • 5 V supplies

  • Piezo lighter spark unit

  • Piezo microphone

Power

  • Anker Solix portable power station
  • Corsair RM1000x PC power supply, adapted for bench use
  • Variable DC power-supply breakout board for the PSU
  • Fixed 32 V PSU
  • 9 V batteries for gel electrophoresis PSU
  • A few battery banks

Test & Soldering Equipment

  • Handheld multimeter
  • Handheld cheap oscilloscope
  • Soldering iron
  • Pinecil Mini portable soldering iron
  • Solder wire spool
  • Solder fume extractor
  • Helping-hands tool with alligator clips
  • Heat-shrink tubing

Fabrication & Workshop

3D Printing

  • Ender 3 V3 SE FDM printer

  • Raspberry Pi connected to printer

  • PLA filament:

    • Green
    • White
    • Black

  • Polycaprolactone mouldable plastic

Power Tools

  • Ryobi One+ jigsaw
  • Ryobi One+ drill/driver
  • Ryobi One+ impact driver
  • Ryobi handheld vacuum (18 V)
  • Ryobi battery charger
  • Rotary tool
  • Hot glue gun
  • Hairdryer
  • Small handheld butane torch
  • Large propane torch

Hand Tools

  • Assorted hand tools
  • iFixit kit
  • Screwdrivers
  • Wire flush cutters
  • Wire strippers
  • Locking pliers / Vise-Grips
  • Adjustable wrench
  • Hammer
  • Hacksaw
  • Japanese pull saw
  • Ratchet clamps
  • Spring clamps
  • Plastic Vernier calipers
  • Pen knives
  • X-Acto knives
  • Scalpel
  • Fine-tip tweezers
  • Chopsticks

Fasteners, Tapes & Adhesives

  • Random wood screws and other fasteners
  • Kapton tape
  • Duct tape
  • Gaffer tape
  • Electrical / insulation tape
  • Plumber’s tape
  • Elmer’s Carpenter’s Wood Glue
  • Mod Podge
  • Super glue
  • Kwik Seal adhesive caulk
  • Hot glue sticks
  • 2-part clear resin
  • UV resin glue
  • WD-40

Paints & Finishing

  • Krylon Fusion spray paint
  • Rust-Oleum automotive primer

Safety & PPE

  • VersaShield nitrile gloves
  • N95 masks
  • Clear safety glasses
  • Work gloves
  • Air purifier

Organization & Storage

  • Pegboard organization system
  • Sorting bins / organizers
  • Component storage drawers

Kitchen / Food Science

  • Access to basic pantry staples
  • Food coloring
  • Agar, alginate, calcium salts, glycerin, citric acid, etc. as listed above

Audio & Music

  • Small MIDI keyboard
  • ROLI Seaboard Rise 2
  • Electric Guitar, ukulele, 3/4 acoustic guitar
  • Audio interface
  • Miscellaneous music gear, lots of DIY instruments, tin whistle, mellodica, kazoos out the wazoo, contact mic,

Computers & Peripherals

  • Computer monitor
  • Huion drawing tablet
  • Mice
  • Keyboards
  • Oculus Quest 3

Other Equipment

  • Inflatable SUP (borrowable)
  • Blood pressure monitor
  • Compressor for car tires