Leveraging the physics of a barbecue lighter to genetically transform living organisms

Electroporation is a powerful method for delivering small molecules (RNA, DNA, drugs) across cell membranes by application of an electric field with a specific voltage and time constant, with applications ranging from synthetic biology to drug delivery. Leveraging the piezoelectric mechanism found within a common barbeque lighter, we develop a low-cost electroporator that we call an ElectroPen. This ElectroPen device costs 23-cents, weighs 13g, utilizes a 3D-printed case, and can be applied to genetically transform E. coli bacteria. In this talk, we will discuss both the physics of a lighter, as well as the synthetic biology protocol we have developed for electroporation using this frugal device. Using high-speed videos, we will discuss how the inner components of a lighter achieve extraordinary accelerations of 3000g force to ultimately deliver voltage pulses of up to 2,000 volts with a decay constant of 5ms. Finally, we will discuss applications of this low-cost device in broadening participation in synthetic biology in high school science laboratories.