Snake Genomics in a Van, Biotech Education, Bird Sexing Business March highlights: mobile snake genomics, a bird breeder’s journey to a commercial lab, Ulster University’s Biotech MSc, and new portable metagenomics research.

March Round-up: Snake Genomics in a Van, Biotech Education, and Building a Bird Sexing Business

bento.bio/blog/2026/03...

Camper van portable sequencing lab, image copyright Alan F. Scott.

Camper van portable sequencing lab setup, showing Bento Lab and other lab equipment. Image copyright Alan F. Scott

Genome sequencing goes mobile! 🚐🧬 Johns Hopkins researchers sequenced the Red Coachwhip snake genome in a camper van using ONT Nanopore & Bento Lab. High-quality nuclear & mitochondrial genomes, all done in field-like conditions! 🐍

doi.org/10.3390/gene...

Images copyright Alan F. Scott.

Imagine having this in your kitchen or your school science room. 🧬
Bento Lab is a full PCR + centrifuge + gel electrophoresis kit in one portable box. As a uni researcher, I call this a very cool toy.
bento.bio/product/bento-lab
@bento.bio

From PCR Beginner to Commercial Chick DNA Sexing Lab See how Brittney Knight used Bento Lab to go from poultry enthusiast to professional. Learn how to start your own DNA bird sexing lab without a PhD.

From poultry enthusiast to bird-sexing lab owner! 🐤🧬

Brittney Knight started out with no PCR experience, learned how to sex birds using Bento Lab, and now runs her own successful bird sexing laboratory.

We’re very excited to share her story & how she got started! 👇

bento.bio/story/solvin...

Leopard Detection, Malaria Surveillance, New Teaching Lab February 2026 round-up: Leopard Detection and Malaria Surveillance with ONT and Bento Lab, Molecular Pathogen Training in Philippines, Teaching Primers

February Round-up: Leopard Detection, Malaria Surveillance, New Teaching Lab, and Molecular Pathogen Training in the Philippines
bento.bio/blog/2026/02...

This is what makes portable equipment like our Bento Lab exciting - you can start quickly, get results on-site, and share skills to build local capacity.

Molecular analysis doesn’t have to wait on sample transport. It can happen right where it matters, and it’s brilliant to see it in action here.

Wonderful to see Amy Bei's team and their collaborators processing hundreds of malaria samples in real time, while training scientists from across the country!

Congrats to all the fantastic team members across Yale, INSAPT, and PNUD Tchad!

Teaching DNA Barcoding: 4 Case Studies Discover 4 case studies to bring DNA barcoding into your classroom through student research and PCR-based projects.

Looking for a hands-on way to teach PCR? Here are four case studies using DNA barcoding:

🌿 Teach lab + bioinformatics
🌿 Insects, fungi, and algae
🌿 Formats from 3 days to full courses

🔗 Find out more: bento.bio/resources/ed...

Honeybee DNA Barcoding for Subspecies Identification Discover how BeeCode Berlin used Bento Lab to empower high school students in DNA barcoding honeybees, uncovering Berlin’s bee genetic diversity. Learn about honeybee subspecies and hands-on citizen s...

BeeCode Berlin, a pioneering citizen science project, helped high school students learn PCR by DNA barcoding honeybees:

🐝 Community centre labs using Bento Lab
🐝 DNA hackathons and poster event
🐝 Subspecies & genetic resilience insights

🔗 Find out more: bento.bio/story/dna-ba...

BioSTEM: A modern educational tool for research and innovation in the field of molecular biology and personalized medicine - Human Genomics Personalized Medicine has the potential to transform modern healthcare by tailoring medical decisions to an individual’s unique genomic profile. However, its integration into routine clinical practice...

Bringing PCR to the classroom? BioSTEM shows how hands-on genetics education can work, even in remote schools.

🧬 Real PCR experiments with Bento Lab
🧬 6,000+ students trained
🧬 Boosted genomics understanding

🔗 Read more: doi.org/10.1186/s402...

Quantitative metagenomics using a portable protocol A field-deployable DNA sequencing approach for quantitative microbial community profiling can enable rapid responses for a range of applications in the water sector – from process control to wastewate...

Interested in portable metagenomics for water samples? Here’s a very exciting preprint using Bento Lab + ONT MinION with a QUANTITATIVE workflow!

⭐5 field & 4 lab methods tested
⭐Results compared to digital PCR
⭐Field results comparable to lab performance

🔗👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Nanopore sequencing technology for clinical diagnosis of infectious diseases where laboratory capacity is meager: A case report In resource-limited settings, patients are often first presented to clinical settings when seriously ill and access to proper clinical microbial diagnostics is often very limited or non-existing. On F...

Interested in how portable sequencing could improve patient care in remote & under-resourced hospitals?

Here's a case report from Tanzania in which a mobile setup (Bento Lab + ONT MinION) helped to diagnose a child’s infection when routine tests failed!

Read more here: www.cell.com/heliyon/full...

Tunisian researchers map protozoan parasites in chickens and a probable nematode vector using Bento Lab!

⭐ First investigation of Trichomonadida diversity across Tunisia
⭐ H. meleagridis (blackhead disease) found in many samples
⭐ Insights for disease control

👉 Read more: doi.org/10.14411/fp....

Introducing NOMAD: A Field-Deployable Workflow for Rapid, On-Site Microbiome Analysis of Raw Bovine Milk Using Full-Length 16S rRNA Sequencing Raw bovine milk hosts a diverse microbiota that profoundly influences dairy product quality, safety, and shelf-life. However, current surveillance methods are time-intensive and often lack the taxonom...

Portable genomics for food safety! Here's a recent preprint that introduces NOMAD: an on-site raw milk microbiome workflow using ONT MinION + Bento Lab.

⭐ Detects >90% of microbial diversity in 4h
⭐ Full workflow in 10.5h
⭐ Same-day farm decisions on spoilage

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Interested in portable metagenomics and cultural heritage? Here’s a new study in which a portable workflow using Bento Lab + ONT MinION was used to analyse biofilm recolonisation (inc. microbiome, resistome, & metabolic traits) on previously cleaned historic statues.

🔗 www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15...

Quantitative metagenomics using a portable protocol A field-deployable DNA sequencing approach for quantitative microbial community profiling can enable rapid responses for a range of applications in the water sector – from process control to wastewate...

Interested in portable metagenomics for water samples? Here’s a new preprint using Bento Lab + ONT MinION with a quantitative workflow:

⭐5 field & 4 lab methods tested
⭐Results compared to digital PCR
⭐Field workflow comparable to lab performance

🔗 Read here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Rapid DNA Extraction from Dried Blood Spots Here are four quick, easy, inexpensive, and accessible methods for extracting DNA from dried blood spots.

Need a fast, affordable & accessible way of extracting DNA from dried blood spots?

Here are four methods you could consider:

⭐PBS-based 10-min incubation (birds)
⭐Weak alkaline lysis+wash → direct PCR
⭐Two strong alkaline lysis methods

🔗 Read here: bento.bio/resources/dn...

Rapid on-site universal vertebrate species identification via multi-barcode nanopore sequencing The growing illegal wildlife trade (IWT) threatens biodiversity and is a conduit for zoonotic disease, yet its risk of detection is low. Once processed, trafficked species are difficult to identify mo...

On-site DNA testing to combat the illegal wildlife trade just got faster!

VeRIF-ID + Bento Lab = portable species ID solution.

🌟 <3 h from sample to result
🌟 Works at customs & field sites
🌟 15 fish & bushmeat items ID’d in ~6 h

🔗 Read here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Powering Bento Lab in the Field with a Battery Keep running experiments when power is not guaranteed, and take Bento Lab in unique environments. We have been exploring different portable power solutions.

Need to run PCR off-grid? From caves to forests to boats, here’s how to power Bento Lab outside the lab:

🔋 Required battery specs
🔋 Tested power stations (Powkey & Yeti)
🔋 Online energy usage calculator

👉 bento.bio/resources/be...

Researchers map protozoan parasites in chickens using Bento Lab!

⭐First investigation of Trichomonadida diversity across Tunisia
⭐Histomonas meleagridis (blackhead disease) found in many samples
⭐ Insights for better disease control

🔗 Read more: folia.paru.cas.cz/artkey/fol-2...

This was developed by @jordancuff.bsky.social for use on our ecology field course. Turns out students like combining lab+field! Another step towards breaking down the false dichotomy of “field” and “lab” people! 🧪

Curious how PCR can help students study insect prey & parasites in the field?

Researchers recently shared their 1-day Bento Lab protocol:

🕷️ Adaptable workflow for ecology studies
🕷️ Field-ready, practical steps
🕷️ Tested in 2023/24 & 2024/25 courses

🔗 slack.protocols.io:8443/view/field-b...

Key considerations when setting up a temporary lab If you’re working outside of a laboratory environment, what do you need to make it a success? Here are some key considerations.

Taking your Bento Lab outside the lab and into the field? This guide shares practical tips for setting up a temporary lab.

How to:
⭐ Set up, power & pack your equipment
⭐ Run gels without a microwave
⭐ Avoid contamination & other issues

🔗 Read more: bento.bio/resources/be...

Distribution and prevalence of Sarcina troglodytae in chimpanzees and the environment throughout Africa Introduction. Since 2005, the leading cause of death for western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (TCS) in Sierra Leone has been epizootic neurologic and gastroente...

Study tracks a deadly chimpanzee pathogen in the field!

⭐ 637 samples tested from sanctuaries & the wild across Africa
⭐ Field DNA extraction, PCR & gels with portable tools including Bento Lab
⭐ Insights on prevalence, seasonality & hotspots

🔗Read: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Honeybee DNA Barcoding for Subspecies Identification Discover how BeeCode Berlin used Bento Lab to empower high school students in DNA barcoding honeybees, uncovering Berlin’s bee genetic diversity. Learn about honeybee subspecies and hands-on citizen s...

What if classrooms could generate biodiversity data? BeeCode Berlin helped students study honeybees using Bento Lab:

🐝 Insights into honeybee subspecies
🐝 The role of genetic diversity in resilience
🐝 DNA hackathons and poster event

🔗 Find out more: bento.bio/story/dna-ba...

Onsite microbiome analysis of stromatolite-like silica structures in a remote subterranean analog martian environments Abstract. Amorphous silica deposits found in orthoquartzite caves offer valuable analogues for understanding early life on Earth and potential biosignatures on Mars. This study presents the fully on-s...

In-situ DNA sequencing in one of the world’s most remote caves?

In Venezuela’s Imawarí Yeutá cave system, researchers built a field lab with Bento Lab + ONT MinION.

⭐Complete onsite workflow
⭐Offline analysis
⭐Insights into microbes & cave formation

🔗 Read more: doi.org/10.5194/egus...

AMR gene detection across different lab settings AMR gene detection across different lab settings

Pathogen & AMR monitoring directly from meat, lake water & sludge?

This study used Bento Lab in the field:

⭐ DNA prep comparable to lab workflows
⭐ Pathogens detected in food & water
⭐ Resistance genes identified

🔗 Read summary + study: bento.bio/blog/2024/12...

Field DNA Barcoding: Triplex PCR with Bento Lab See how Bento Lab enables rapid plant and animal species barcoding in the field with a portable triplex PCR assay.

Need to screen plant or animal DNA before sequencing? This triplex PCR assay runs entirely on Bento Lab!

🌱 Single-tube triplex PCR: plant or animal
🌱 Field-ready workflow
🌱 Ready for Sanger sequencing

🔗 Find out more: bento.bio/story/rapid-...

HotSHOT DNA Extraction Kit Rapidly extract DNA from a wide range of samples with this widely used method. The HotSHOT DNA Extraction Kit is a simple, two step protocol performed in a single PCR tube. Provided as two 30 mL…

Great to see our HotSHOT DNA Extraction Kit being used for leaf-miner DNA barcoding, in a study by Sharrow et al. (2025):

⭐ Read how they did it: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

⭐ Check out the kit: bento.bio/product/hots...

Troubleshooting Non-Specific Amplification Non-specific amplification is the amplification of non-target DNA during PCR. This article provides a background to non-specific amplification and troubleshooting tips.

Struggling with smears or strange bands in your PCR? Our troubleshooting guide helps you identify and fix non-specific amplification:

⭐ Common PCR artefacts
⭐ Potential causes
⭐ Practical troubleshooting steps

🔗 Read more: bento.bio/resources/be...