
Doing Biotech in My Bedroom - olalonde
http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39597/?p1=BI
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alexholehouse
I can't help but think if he was half way through his Ph.D., he perhaps should
have finished it before embarking on this endevour.

 _"Would I finish and get a few letters after my name, or seize the day and do
something that needed to be done?"_

I'm not sure the two are in any way mutually incompatible, and the advantage
of working with experienced researchers for a couple of years or so more
(Ph.Ds are 3-4 years in the UK), especially if he's committed to a more
solitary lifestyle, I'd have thought would have been rather useful.

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splatterdash
The DIY biotech movement has been going on for some time now. People are
drawing parallels between the movement and the early days of the tech scene,
predicting DIY bio will be as big and influential as today's DIY tech scene.

While I want to be optimistic about that, the comment from Declan Soden in the
article seems pretty spot on.

Putting together genes into plasmids and bacteria is just the beginning. The
main goal is to endow some organisms with new useful traits. The problem is,
testing the trait becomes increasingly difficult for DIY biologists because it
is rarely as easy as putting the genes together. How do you test if your
bacteria has made the desired anticancer compound? You need to chemically
analyze your product, and ultimately you need to try it on people.

This is different compared to software. Open source software can become what
it is today, because testing the software itself is relatively easy. Want to
write a new browser? Just use it yourself. How about a new media player? Use
it to play your videos and see how it goes.

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itmag
I don't know anything at all about biotech, but it seems to me that the
current process is something akin to manually entering machine code by
flipping switches on a mainframe (or, another analogy: randomly gluing
together libraries until something kinda works).

Maybe what is needed is some kind of programming language? Think VHDL but for
biological stuff.

~~~
possibilistic
Just curious, but how interested would you (or others) be in a distilled
introduction / survey of molecular biology? I've been thinking of writing or
putting together some material at a somewhat higher level than, say, Khan
Academy. No problem sets, just a fast and hard "this is why". Interested
persons will challenge themselves, independently research, and put things
together if they want deeper knowledge.

I've always felt that I could condense an entire two semester of cell
phys/molec bio into a three hour video or 20-30 page article. I think the mind
is surprisingly adept at filling in the holes...

Not saying that I have the talent to do this well. Is it something I should
pursue?

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philk
This would be fascinating. It would be great if you did this.

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alexholehouse
And, on another note, I hate to be, "the man", but by re purposing chemicals
and tools for biotech you risk introducing _ALL_ kinds of bias.

How does using an over the counter laxative impact bacterial transformation?
The active ingredient that causes transformation might be the same (or it
might not) as that used in the lab, but there may be other chemicals which
impact the process, or worse, contaminants at a level which is totally
acceptable for human consumption but not for biochemistry.

Can he guarantee his pressure cooker autoclave works, and if so how? What
about feeding bacteria boiled potatoes - are there other chemicals in those
potatoes (which have been absorbed from their environment, during transport,
in storage etc) which could impact bacterial growth or function in some way?
How would you know? Would they even be consistent - who's your potato vendor?

There are already FAR too many unknowns in biology, adding more through the
risk of inconsistent experimental design and tools feels like a poor direction
to go.

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MaddHatta
>Can he guarantee his pressure cooker autoclave works, and if so how?

Autoclave tape

Just because one utilizes alternative materials does not mean the scientific
method goes out the window. Finding a repeatable process is paramount.

Also, many of these DIYbio projects take advantage of methods used in labs for
years. There are multitudes of testing procedures, validations, ect that
enable one to see if their over the counter laxative is up to par.

~~~
alexholehouse
I agree with what your saying, but at the same time many such tests have been
developed to work with biochemical grade components. Yes - they may test if X
has worked, and that Y and Z are not present, but if there is no expectation
whatsoever that A is present then it won't be something worth testing for
normally, even if, in this rather specific example, there's more A than you
can point a stick at.

Repeatability does not necessarily reflect functional correctness. Clearly
this is a bigger issue than just DIYbio, but my point is simply that if you're
working in a lab, under lab conditions, you can make a lot more guarantees
regarding continuity of environment, materials, and methods than you can in
your mum's spare room with over the counter laxative.

Equally, however, assuming "the traditional" is the only way to go is a
dangerous precedent too. I'm just of the possibly naive opinion that it would
be difficult to follow the scientific method to as rigorous a standard as is
necessary, but perhaps that in itself will precipitate a new industry in low
cost biotech equipment.

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dsr_
It's an encouraging sign that Garvey is starting with building tools to work
on safer bacteria than everyone's favorite human gut dweller, but B. subtilis
is extremely hardy and can survive a wide variety of conditions. Perhaps
something that dies quickly outside a particular environment would be even
better?

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corwinbad
Check out <http://genomecompiler.com>

It's a design/debug/compile tool for synthetic biology

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nickpp
This is scary and exhilarating at the same time.

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shareme
I am sorry, I use to work in several labs at Purdue U years ago while a
student..his lab is missing some key safety features/items..is that really a
good idea?

