Simple Gene Gun

Figure 1. The blue box contain 13 mm in diameter disk filters placed atop of the pre-filter shown above in the lower left corner of the close up of a Swinnex filter. (Note: the disk filter 3 microns of material passing thru.)

I worked on putting a gene gun together this week with a 16-piece compressor set from Home Depot and a used foot pump. The development of this very simple and inexpensive gene gun seems it might work. On the other hand, I may have come across some problematic obstacles heading down the road of this future apparatus. For instance, the Swinnex chamber with the pre-filter in it has an inlet capacity of 50psi or 3.5bar. The maximum pressure I will need for the successful acceleration of the tungsten particle coated with the desired genes to shoot thru this filter is about 80psi or 5.5bar. Figure 1 above show the device separated into its individual pieces. The red arrow indicates the flow of the air being compressed. I, also, added a pic of the Swinnex filter in the lower right corner of Figure 1.

The attaching of the coupler and other threaded areas needed Teflon tape for proper seal. I tried to use rubber tape that was lying around in the robotics lab room.