What is BioFabLab?

“This is a project we put together in the last couple of years to introduce biology undergraduates to something we do in the lab all the time,” says Andy Mead, UVM biology research associate and lecturer. “When we have a question we need to answer, and there's no piece of equipment to answer it, we build our own experimental equipment.”

Working at local maker space Generator, UVM undergraduates did just that.

Two teams created equipment that could track the flight of a fruit fly or expose developing zebra fish embryos to precise amounts of oxygen. Put to use in the lab, these devices could help UVM researchers shed light on human aging and better understand eye development, respectively.

Part engineering class, part biology class, part communications class, BioFabLab gives students hands-on access to furthering our understanding of the world.