The Chemistry World editor wanted something about marketing feature-boasting on lab equipment and kits. They needn’t have said more.

Musing: Scientists have mixed feelings about kits. On one hand, they offer standardization across labs, save time, and make Method sections easy to write (“…as per manufacturer’s instructions”).

On the other hand, they can make researchers intellectually lazy, or limit creative scientific thinking. Also, kits ain’t cheap, and we all know that research grants don’t exactly make it rain in da club.

But I see a better way. I see a day where all research will ultimately be done out of a kit. You go online, order your kit, it arrives in the post, you open it, follow the instructions – and BAM! Complete PhD thesis. Nature paper. Science cover page. Nobel prize. All out of a kit.

It’s the dream. Or maybe a good comic idea. And neither comes in a kit.

Yet.