December 1, 2011 (Vol. 31, No. 21)
URL:
http://market.android.com/details?id=com.promega&hl=en
Rating:
Strong Points: Many tools, Promega product placements at a minimum
Weak Points: Nothing major
Platform:
Android Phone
Cost:
Free
Summary:
A warning—once you start exploring this app, it may be a while before you return to your experiments! This app is packed with useful features, both for science practice and theory. It is divided into three sections: protocols and applications, videos, and biomath calculators. The protocols and applications section contains not only protocols for a number of techniques in molecular biology, but also theory behind them. For instance, under “DNA purification,” one will find sections such as “general considerations” and “factors that affect quality and yield.” In the videos section one will find narrated animations that explain phenomena like apoptosis. Finally, the biomath calculators section is incredibly useful, in that it is much more than just a dilution or molarity calculator. One can perform calculations such as DNA micrograms to picomoles or nucleic acid OD260 to micrograms/milliliter.
