A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR), or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), is a modification to normal PCR where one monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule during the PCR.
We’ve written before about our favorite cheap solutions for PCR, but check out this interesting paper on building your own quantitative-PCR (qPCR) machine written by Geoffrey Mulberry, Kevin White, Manjusha Vaidya, Kiminobu Sugaya, and Brian Kim.
The device has no name, no GitHub, no website. What it does have is a thorough set of supplementary materials including STL and CAD files for 3D Printing, DXF files for making the circuit boards with a 3D CNC mill, a DIPTRACE file for the PCB design, and succinct Arduino code. The authors created their device using a ZMorph 3D printer with an optional milling attachment which would run you $3000, but they also recommend buying something like the Wanhao Duplicator I3 3D printer ($299) and an Inventables X-Carve CNC mill ($1600)
The paper also includes a bill of materials as an EPS file. Which is just plain fascinating.