I think it's also useful to note _just_ how versatile a PCR machine is in biotech. If every EE hacker needs an oscilloscope, every bioengineer hacker needs a P

I think it's also useful to note _just_ how versatile a PCR machine is in biotech. If every EE hacker needs an oscilloscope, every bioengineer hacker needs a PCR machine. PCR is good for much more than just amplification -- a huge number of variations on the basic technique have surfaced in the past few years, here are just a few: - Need to synthesize a new gene or genetic circuit? Take a bunch of DNA fragments, design overlapping fragments which serve as the "glue", and use PCR to sew the whole thing together - Want to know if your bacteria is the right strain? Microwave a colony and toss it into the PCR machine with some probes to check. Same thing if you want to test yourself for common disease risk factors such as the BRCA1 gene. - Want to know the expression of protein A compared to protein B? Use Q-PCR to get quantitative data on the difference. - Made a mistake in your latest gene synthesis order? Use PCR to change base-pairs or even edit out regions of DNA to fix the problem region. Conversely, if you want to _introduce_ mutations / randomize segments of DNA, PCR can do that too! There are many more uses of the general technique including next-gen sequencing and DNA origami that are just too numerous to list. PCR is like the IDE of biology, containing an editor, a compiler, and a debugger all in one! Really, my only complaint is that a PCR run takes an hour or more to run depending on the complexity.