The Promises, Demands, and Risks of Garage Biology. As you're reading this there is an amateur scientist, somewhere, doing an experiment.
Community lab spaces are cropping up across the globe where ordinary people can get together to pool resources and brain power to come up with new technologies. Many are tinkering with electronics, but some are dabbling with living systems. These "biohackers" have recently begun to organize into a movement of hobbyists that work out of basements, garages, and community spaces.
I'm going to weigh in on the promises, demands, and risks that this movement represents. The Promises We are living in a time of rapid technological expansion. The fact is that, though doing biology is expensive, there really are biohacking projects for every budget: isolating DNA from strawberries using meat tenderizer, soap, and alcohol; culturing and identifying bacteria from yogurt; and genotyping yourself with PCR.
That's not to say that DIY biohackers can't make contributions to science. The Demands The Risks References: JCVI: Home. Metabolism, Cellular Respiration & Photosynthesis - BioChemWeb.org. UCSF center for systems & synthetic biology. Top 7 in Cancer Biology. A snapshot of the most highly ranked articles in cancer biology and related areas, from Faculty of 1000 Newt lung cells in early anaphaseNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH 1.
Signaling cell division Researchers uncovered the pulses of external signaling factors that push resting cells to divide. In one phase, dialing up the levels of the signaling molecule p53 keeps cells from dividing, while another pathway increases expression of EGR1 and initiates cell division. Y. 2. Just before cells divide, chromosomes must duplicate and separate in a coordinated dance.
L. 3. While many tissue types stop growing when nutrients are scarce, Drosophila brain tissue continues to grow, even when starved for food. L. Drosophila 4. Researchers showed that the septin cytoskeleton, a network of filamentous proteins, plays a critical role in directing microtubules reorganization. Top 7 in Molecular Biology. A snapshot of the most highly ranked articles in molecular biology and related areas, from Faculty of 1000 1.
Lighting up RNA A novel technique for tagging and following RNA processes in live cells promises to illuminate RNA biology the way green fluorescent protein (GFP) did for the study of proteins. The tagging method consists of short RNA sequences that bind to GFP-like fluorophores and produce a wide range of colors. These RNA-fluorophore complexes can then be fused to RNAs in the cell. J.S. 2. Though large swaths of non-coding RNAs exist in mammals, no one had clearly explained their role. Top 7 in Genomics & Genetics. A snapshot of the most highly ranked articles in genomics, genetics and related areas, from Faculty of 1000 HIV budding from cell membrane.WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, NIH1.
Lighting up RNA A novel technique for tagging and following RNA processes in live cells promises to illuminate RNA biology the way green fluorescent protein (GFP) did for the study of proteins. The tagging method consists of short RNA sequences that bind to GFP-like fluorophores and produce a wide range of colors. These RNA-fluorophore complexes can then be fused to RNAs in the cell. Images - Les Sciences de la Vie au Lycée.
Garage biotech: Life hackers.
Publications. Bibliography. Wikis. Resources. News. Blogs. Teaching. Illustrations. Times&numbers. RNA. Bioinformatics. Structural. Origins of life. Evolution.