Create Metformin, Other Drugs at Home with Microlab FTVC (Open source revolution in medicine)

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The MicroLab is not super-complicated as far as machines go.

It stirs.
It pumps hot or cold fluid to maintain a temperature.
It pours liquids through an array of peristaltic pumps.
There’s a small computer that controls those functions.

The real complexity comes when you start to consider all the edge cases of actually doing chemistry in it.

microlab-stirring-1-1

From the very first prototype, the MicroLab was able to perform chemical reactions. You can also perform chemical reactions by combining two substances in a jar and shaking them around. We know we can do chemistry. The questions we wanted to answer this release were:

“What chemistry can we reliably do?”

and

“How can we expand those possibilities?”

A lot more questions fall out of those two.

  • What solvents can the reactor handle?
  • How hot can the Reactor Core get without having problems?
  • What is the range of temperatures supported by the heat source and the ice bath?

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Until then, remember that we have more power than we often think we do.

The MicroLab belongs to all humanity – as all knowledge should. We believe version 1.0 makes a wide range of small-molecule organic chemistry available to most people who can spare a few hundred dollars and turn a few screws. As a blue superhero from back when the US briefly cared about the environment used to say:

“The Power is Yours!”

Keep each other healthy. Keep each other safe.

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Here’s the source code for Metformin

    {
      "title": "Metformin_updated",
      "steps": [{"message":"Add 5.20 g 2-cyanoguanidine to the reaction vessel","baseTask":"humanTask","parameters":{},"done":false,"options":[{"text":"Done","next":1}],"details":"","icon":"human_task","tasks":[]},{"message":"Add 150 mL 2-propanol to the reaction vessel","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"icon":"dispensing","options":[{"text":"Done","next":2}],"tasks":[]},{"message":"Add 25 mL methanol to the reaction vessel","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"icon":"dispensing","options":[{"text":"Done","next":3}],"tasks":[]},{"message":"Add 6.06 g dimethylamine HCl to the reaction vessel","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"icon":"human_task","options":[{"text":"Start stirring","next":4}],"tasks":[]},{"message":"The reaction is now being stirred at 40 °C for 15 minutes.","baseTask":"stir","parameters":{"time":900},"done":false,"options":[{"text":"","next":5}],"icon":"stirring","andMaintainTemp":"maintainHeat","andMaintainTempTemp":"40","next":5,"tasks":[{"baseTask":"maintainHeat","parameters":{"time":900,"temp":"40","tolerance":1}}]},{"message":"The reaction is now being stirred at 70 °C for 24 hours","baseTask":"stir","parameters":{"time":86400},"done":false,"icon":"stirring","andMaintainTemp":"maintainHeat","andMaintainTempTemp":"70","next":6,"tasks":[{"baseTask":"maintainHeat","parameters":{"time":86400,"temp":"70","tolerance":1}}]},{"message":"Evaporate the solvents down to approximately 35 mL. This should give a white slurry.","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"icon":"human_task","options":[{"text":"Done","next":7}],"tasks":[]},{"message":"Filter off the liquid. Pour 50 mL ice-cold 2-propanol through the compound that's on the filter, to wash it.","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"options":[{"text":"Done","next":8}],"icon":"filter","tasks":[]},{"message":"Collect the compound, and dry away the 2-propanol. For example by putting it in a glass and waiting 24 h.","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"icon":"dry","options":[{"text":"Done","next":9}],"tasks":[]},{"message":"Slowly add a minimal amount of methanol, until the compound is dissolved. Put the solution in the freezer and wait until crystals form in the liquid (2-24 h).","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"options":[{"text":"Done","next":10}],"icon":"crystalisation","tasks":[]},{"message":"Remove the liquid through filtration.","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"options":[{"text":"Done","next":11}],"icon":"filter","tasks":[]},{"message":"Collect the crystals, and dry away the methanol.","baseTask":"humanTask","done":false,"icon":"dry","options":[{"text":"Done","next":12}],"tasks":[]},{"message":"Congratulations! You have made Metformin HCl.","baseTask":"humanTask","done":true,"icon":"reaction_complete","tasks":[]}]
    }

A few other drugs source codes/recipes are available at: https://wiki.fourthievesvinegar.org/wiki/index.php?title=MicroLab_Recipes

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