“If you’re wanting to detect whether something is present, for instance it might be E. coli in the water, or it might be cyanobacteria in the water, or even Covid-19, you use molecular biology, or DNA amplification technologies, to search in to the sample to see whether it’s present," Broom said. “So we’ve come up with an instrument that does it fast and simply, at a constant temperature, and it works off a smartphone." BRYA INGRAM/STUFF Broom said a portable instrument was taken to the field to undertake research. DNAiTECH was the recipient of an “Unlocking Curious Minds” regional grant from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment for 2020, for running a workshop to engage secondary students with science and technology.