In the late 1970’s, at the dawn of genetic engineering, Heathkit high-voltage regulated power supplies, available for less than $50 I believe, were widely used

In the late 1970’s, at the dawn of genetic engineering, Heathkit high-voltage regulated power supplies, available for less than $50 I believe, were widely used for nucleic acid gel electrophoresis. They worked great, and were 1/4 the cost of purpose-built supplies from Biorad and other biotechnology manufacturers (which were much cheaper than HP power supplies). Even today, working models go for more than $200 on eBay.