MIT’s Technology Review featured Professor Catherine
Klapperich’s SNAP device, co-developed as an IIH project, to
purify DNA in the field. SNAP (System for Nucleic Acid
Preparation) is able to purify DNA from field samples such as
blood and saliva without any electricity or specialized
training. This allows samples to be collected in the field, and
stabilized without expensive refrigeration. By isolating DNA
from the sample, the resulting material remains stable at room
temperature for long periods of time. “Instead of taking blood
samples and keeping them cold, with our technology, they would
be able to prepare all the samples at the point of care,” says
Klapperich, an assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical
engineering at Boston University. “They would also have a longer
period of time to get a much more preserved sample to a central
lab someplace else.” A standard bicycle pump is all that’s
required to power a DNA purifying kit, designed by Catherine
Klapperich and her students at Boston Universit