

Begging for disruption: where biotech, grassroots, and microfunding overlap - reasonattlm
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/02/encouraging-transparency-in-life-science-fundraising.php

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davidw
That amount of money (5-20000) actually doesn't seem like much for biotech
stuff if you need lab access and supplies.

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reasonattlm
Your instincts on that are wrong. There's a skilled postgrad fellow with
papers to his name proving or disproving pulsed laser ablation of lipofuscin
in nematodes for ~14k, for example. You should read the DIY Bio piece here for
how people reduce costs for OTS items. There is huge bloat in OTS biotech
prices, which can be traced all the way back to government funding of research
if you care to - standard budget management, etc, etc.

[http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/bio/diy-bio-growing-
mo...](http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/bio/diy-bio-growing-movement-
takes-aging)

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davidw
Ok, but whose lab is this person using and how much is he paying to use it?

My wife works in 'biotech' research, and it seems to me that even if you can
scrimp on people fees, paying for equipment is going to be expensive unless
you work in an area that doesn't require much of it.

Interesting article, and hopefully things will move in that direction, but I
think 'build it yourself' can only get you so far. Hopefully that range will
continue to expand though.

