Doing Biotech in My Bedroom

http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39597/?p1=BI

by olalonde • 14 years ago

63 22 14 years ago

nickpp• 14 years ago

This is scary and exhilarating at the same time.

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.

minikomi• 14 years ago

You might able to get pretty close using some kind of Immunoassay. The techniques we have are still very brute force. Give it (a lot) of time.

itmag2• 14 years ago

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.

iqster• 14 years ago

Check out biobricks.

corwinbad2• 14 years ago

check out http://genomecompiler.com

onemoreact• 14 years ago

That's the 'old' but cheap process.

We can directly encode an organism's DNA. As in scan something in Virginia, email it's DNA and have someone else in California who print's that organism's DNA which then goes on to reproduce.

PS: There are still limitations based on the cellular machinery that exists inside a cell and the target cell. But, when it comes to DNA we have that down.

possibilistic• 14 years ago

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?

moonchrome• 14 years ago

>You need to chemically analyze your product, and ultimately you need to try it on people.

I can think of many industrial applications where biotech could help without the need to test it on humans, eg. food synthesis - efficiently producing essential amino acids, carbs and fats by bacteria in an environment suitable to industrial production. Or materials like that spider silk they did when genetically modifying silkworm.

splatterdash2• 14 years ago

Wouldn't that also requires access to industrial-grade chemicals & machines?

E.g. you need to purify your amino acids or carbs, and test the purity, check if any dangerous by-products are present, etc.

Joakal• 14 years ago

There's ways to develop dna, organs, bones, etc.

The 'browser' somewhat exists; the minor 'javascript' quirks can be tested in some of the 'browsers'.

dsr_• 14 years ago

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?

alexholehouse3• 14 years ago

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.

alexholehouse3• 14 years ago

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.

MaddHatta• 14 years ago

>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.

alexholehouse3• 14 years ago

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.

corwinbad2• 14 years ago

Check out http://genomecompiler.com

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

shareme• 14 years ago

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?

Doing Biotech in My Bedroom

Related Stories