[
International Worm Meeting,
2003]
C. elegans genetics and a wide variety of molecular biology techniques rely on incubation at controlled temperatures. While molecular genetic techniques have advanced through qualitative and quantitative revolutions, incubators continue to function much as they have since before the discovery of DNA. Incubators are typically simple thermostatically controlled enclosures and the only way for researchers to find out if their samples are "ready", or find out if the incubator has malfunctioned, is to go to the incubator and look. Direct contact is also required to change the incubation temperature. Significant time can be lost due to anomolous results or lost sample material caused by unnoticed fluctuations in temperature. We are developing an incubator with an embedded web server and will present our current progress. Key features will include: - sample temperature can be monitored and logged from anywhere via the internet - incubator temperature can be adjusted remotely via the internet - incubator alarms can trigger e-mail notifications and/or telephone pagers