ElectroPen: An ultralow-cost piezoelectric electroporator

Abstract

Electroporation is a basic yet powerful method for delivering small molecules (RNA, DNA, drugs) across cell membranes by application of an electrical field. Due to its vital role, electroporation has wide applicability from genetically engineering cells, to drug- and DNA-based vaccine delivery. Despite its broad applications in biological research, the high cost of electroporators is an obstacle for many budget-conscious laboratories. To address this need, we describe a simple, inexpensive, and hand-held electroporator inspired by a common household piezoelectric gas lighter. The proposed “ElectroPen” device costs about 20 cents, is portable (13 g), is fabricated on-demand using 3D-printing, and delivers repeatable exponentially decaying pulses of about 2000 V in 5 ms. We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration by genetically transforming plasmids into E. coli strains and show comparable transformation efficiency and cell growth with commercial devices, but at a fraction of the cost. Our results are validated by an independent team across the globe, providing a real-world example of democratizing science through frugal tools. Thus, the simplicity, accessibility, and affordability of our device holds potential for making modern synthetic biology accessible in high-school, community, and field-ecology laboratories.