Open source equipment has been tried a lot in the DIY bio space, but a lot of it falls short because the used market is too good in biotech IMO
Lots of medical and academic labs liquidate, and you'd think that the market would compensate and labs would pick up used equipment, but that typically doesn't happen - probably for regulatory reasons and because (I've found) academic labs aren't typically in the position to take risks on equipment.
For example, an eBay seller ain't going to be able to test a PCR machine, so they sell it FOR-PARTS, which makes it so academic labs won't touch it. Then, you can swing in and buy perfectly fine $2,000 equipment for $150. Best deal I ever got was $350 for a fully functioning lab robot.
The SoundBio people are great, and there's lots of labs locally! They're really suffering right now though, because a revenue stream is often education.
Lots of medical and academic labs liquidate, and you'd think that the market would compensate and labs would pick up used equipment, but that typically doesn't happen - probably for regulatory reasons and because (I've found) academic labs aren't typically in the position to take risks on equipment.
For example, an eBay seller ain't going to be able to test a PCR machine, so they sell it FOR-PARTS, which makes it so academic labs won't touch it. Then, you can swing in and buy perfectly fine $2,000 equipment for $150. Best deal I ever got was $350 for a fully functioning lab robot.
The SoundBio people are great, and there's lots of labs locally! They're really suffering right now though, because a revenue stream is often education.