[Noisebridge-discuss] Another DIYbio thread!

Tue Mar 31 02:15:25 UTC 2009

Hi everyone,

I'm also thankful -- Noisebridge has been most excellent to the DIYbio  
group. I've attended all of the DIYbio meetings held at NB and I feel  
that the direction of DIYbio is influenced from our time there.

Sure, if we got serious we could sequester ourselves in some  
commercial space elsewhere in the Bay. But that lack of cross  
pollination *exactly* what's wrong with biotech -- and that's what  
DIYbio is fighting against. The evolution and exchange that happens at  
Noisebridge is very much in the spirit of DIYbio -- and I'm wondering  
how to preserve this. How can we democratize biotech in a safe,  
productive way?

1. One way to do this is by being physically close to other hackers.  
Josh makes a good point -- what, loosely, would be involved in  
securing space next to Noisebridge for DIYbio?

2. Another option is to find out own place -- and get help with  
setting up our leadership, management, and culture. Maybe start with  
that "how to start a hackerspace" pdf I saw floating around.

I look forward to working with you all, and learning more about the  
blood and sweat that you put down, and hopefully sharing trick or two  
about biotech with you!

Tito

On Mar 30, 2009, at 3:29 PM, Josh Perfetto wrote:

> Hello all at NB,
>
> I helped the DIYbio group with the experiment over the weekend, and  
> would like to provide some information on the current situation &  
> thoughts on future relations.
>
> The experiment which was begun over the weekend is essentially the  
> “hello world” of synthetic biology: transforming a plasmid  
> containing the GFP gene into E. Coli, so that the bacteria will  
> fluoresce under UV light.  It is very basic and many of the  
> materials used in this experiment are from a kit that is routinely  
> used in high school biology labs.  There are materials in this kit  
> that you shouldn’t ingest like a Calcium Chloride solution which you  
> shouldn’t ingest, but doesn’t pose a particularly great safety risk,  
> and I am sure there are many liquids and other objects at NB that  
> you shouldn’t ingest either.  There is also a laboratory strain of  
> E. Coli in the kit (not the same as the pathogenic strains you often  
> hear about causing food contamination).  This should actually be  
> safe for people with normal immune systems to ingest, though there  
> should be no reason for anyone to do this, and the closed culture  
> tubes sitting in a dedicated fridge should pose no risk to anyone.
>
> I helped the group create this safety guidelines & protocol page https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Noisebridge_Lab_Safety_and_Ethics_Page 
>  .  I believe these guidelines & protocols suffice for the current  
> “hello world” experiment, though not necessarily all work going  
> forward.  If you look at the bottom, I pointed out that NB does not  
> have proper hazardous materials processes or licenses in place, and  
> therefore I believe that these materials should not be brought into  
> NB at this time.  I also just updated your Safety wiki page to link  
> to the lab safety page as well.
>
> I do have some thoughts and concerns with things moving forward  
> which are really just coming from myself (not representing the  
> entire SF DIYbio group here), but this seems like a good time to  
> share them.
>
> First as others have pointed out there is clearly some communication  
> problems between these two groups, and I think the idea of making  
> Praveen an ambassador would be excellent.  I can’t really play this  
> role as I’m not able to regularly attend your meetings and am not  
> that familiar with NB.
>
> But secondly here’s some thoughts on NB/DIYBio.  As I mentioned  
> above, the experiment the group is currently doing is really basic,  
> and NB has been very generous in letting this group use its space.   
> I think there’s going to be a limit though in how much the group is  
> going to be able to achieve in this current environment.  I’ve only  
> visited NB twice, and what I’ve seen is an awesome bunch of shared  
> hardware hacking equipment, shared table space, some storage space,  
> and everything is totally jam packed :)  That’s not that different  
> than a bio lab, except that the shared equipment is rather different  
> as well as the types of surfaces.  We’ve seen the space issues just  
> a single fridge has brought, but such a fridge is just one small  
> part of common lab equipment.  I really like the environment and  
> group governance systems that NB has setup, and I think DIYbio could  
> benefit a lot from this, as well as the proximity to all of the  
> other work going on at NB (there is a lot of hardware hacking needed  
> as well for biology).  I just think that at a point, a larger amount  
> of dedicated physical space is going to be required for equipment  
> storage, safety equipment (fume hood/bio safety cabinet), safe  
> storage of reagents, etc.  NB wouldn’t be what it is if it didn’t  
> have room for all the equipment it currently has.
>
> I’m throwing this out there now to get your take on this and see  
> what the interest level is in potentially creating such a space if  
> you were to expand (can’t really see how it could be done without  
> expanding given the current size of the space).  If there might be  
> interest it would be good to figure out what it might take (i.e.  
> there would have to be X new members to support the space  
> financially).  If more involved work was to take place at NB, then  
> it probably would also be necessary to figure out how to safely  
> store chemicals that are much more dangerous than those being  
> discussed at present, hazardous waste disposal processes & permits,  
> necessary segregation of activities, etc.
>
> I think part of the problems being experienced is because SF DIYbio  
> is currently in a bit of a neitherland in terms of its home and  
> needs to eventually pick a location and settle down.  The group is  
> currently looking at a number of options, of which NB is one, and if  
> NB is to become the home, then eventually this relationship needs to  
> become more formalized (with DIYbio members becoming NB members  
> etc).  If another location becomes the physical home, I think there  
> may still be many interesting opportunities for the two groups to  
> collaborate on projects.  And regardless, NB has been very generous  
> with its space while this all gets worked out, and I hope everyone  
> recognizes this.
>
> -Josh
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