Lab Protocols:
Step by Step
The Problem with Protocol PDFs
Every lab has a folder of protocols. Printed sheets in plastic sleeves, stained with buffer and fading at the edges. Or PDFs on a shared drive that you have to find, open, scroll through, and try to follow while holding a pipette with your other hand. The format has not changed in decades, and it was never designed for the way people actually work at the bench.
A protocol on your phone should not be a PDF viewer. It should be interactive, step-by-step, and designed for one-handed use while you are actually doing the experiment. That is what BenchCalc's protocol section is.
What Makes It Different
Each protocol in BenchCalc is a step-through guide. You see one step at a time, you mark it as done, and you move on. There are checklist and focus modes depending on how you like to work. Duration badges tell you how long each step takes (and how long you are waiting during incubations). Volume chips give you the actual amounts. Warnings flag the critical steps where things commonly go wrong. Tips provide the kind of practical advice that experienced researchers share verbally but rarely write down.
Your progress is saved per protocol, so if you close the app to use the calculator and come back, you are where you left off.
What Is Included
BenchCalc currently includes 11 protocols covering the core molecular biology and protein workflows: miniprep, ethanol precipitation, gel extraction, PCR cleanup, restriction digest, ligation, heat shock transformation, E. coli growth and harvest, affinity column purification, column maintenance, and inclusion body purification. These are the protocols I run or supervise regularly, written the way they actually work in practice.
Not a Protocol Database
BenchCalc is not trying to be a comprehensive protocol repository. There are platforms for that. What it provides is a curated set of essential protocols, thoroughly written, in a format that is actually useful at the bench. Quality over quantity, offline, in your pocket.