MIT’s Technology Review featured Professor Catherine Klapperich’s SNAP device, co-developed as an IIH project, to purify DNA in the field. SNAP (System for Nucleic Acid Preparation) is able to purify DNA from field samples such as blood and saliva without any electricity or specialized training. This allows samples to be collected in the field, and stabilized without expensive refrigeration. By isolating DNA from the sample, the resulting material remains stable at room temperature for long periods of time.
“Instead of taking blood samples and keeping them cold, with our technology, they would be able to prepare all the samples at the point of care,” says Klapperich, an assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering at Boston University. “They would also have a longer period of time to get a much more preserved sample to a central lab someplace else.”
A standard bicycle pump is all that’s required to power a DNA purifying kit, designed by Catherine Klapperich and her students at Boston University. The thermos-size device, dubbed SNAP (System for Nucleic Acid Preparation), extracts genetic material from blood and other bodily fluids by pumping fluid through a polymer-lined straw designed to trap DNA. A user can then pop the straw out and mail it to the nearest lab, where the preserved DNA can be analyzed for suspicious bacteria, viruses, and genetic diseases.
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