OmiBox equipment
Contained into a rolling hard case, OmiBox has been designed to operate autonomously for the processing of environmental samples during in-field experiments. To power the lab equipment, OmiBox integrates a portable power station, which consists of solar panels and batteries. Furthermore, in order to minimize potential adverse weather conditions and thus preserve the equipment over the course of the experiments, all the lab equipment can be set up inside a lightweight backpacking tent which is installed at the targeted locations.
Monolyser
Portable sample homogenizer used to lyse microbes from environmental samples for the subsequent extraction of nucleic acids and proteins.
It provides particularly powerful shaking speeds, so times ranging between 30-60 sec are enough to achieve sufficient cell lysis.
BentoLab
Portable device for molecular work that integrates four main modules: PCR thermocycler, microcentrifuge, gel electrophoresis and a blue LED transilluminator.
It provides centrifugation speeds up to 8 000 g.
Qubit 4 Fluorometer
Portable size fluorometer designed to accurately measure DNA, RNA, and protein quantity, integrity and quality.
With < 5 min preparation times, Qubit 4 offers a quick method to track DNA/RNA concentrations throughout the processing of samples.
VolTRAX V2b
VolTRAX is a portable device for genomic library preparation device.
It's worth noting that VolTRAX does not currently support all types of genomic libraries, although recent advances have been made in some gDNA and RNA libraries. For more information, check Oxford Nanopore Technologies.
MinION MK1C
This pocket-sized sequencer (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) is capable of delivering high volumes of sequencing data (up to 50 Gb) from ultra-long DNA/RNA reads (hundreds of Kb) in real-time without the need of network connectivity.
The basecalling and onwards bioinformatic analyses can be performed in parallel as the sequencing experiment progresses, enabling the customization of the sequencing time and other parameters according with the research purpose.
Solar Power Station
OmiBox can be autonomously operated off-grid for long hours by a Goal Zero Yeti power station, which in turn can be recharged by solar panels. Even under partially cloudy situations, this power station can power the entire OmiBox equipment indefinitely.
Air-filtration system
To ensure sterilized conditions and a proper preservation of nucleic acids (particularly RNA), OmiBox incorporates an in-built flow hood which provides a continuous positive pressure of filtered air (HEPA 13 filters) within an isolation chamber.