A year ago Cathal Garvey & Brian Degger introduced me to DIY Bio.

Basically, as I see it, DIY bio is currently a bunch of people sitting at home experimenting with biological processes. Right now a lot of people are at the “make my own yogurt” stage.  But, the ambition, scope & skills  of the people involved stretches way beyond this.

People are already making recombinant DNA, playing with enzymes, experimenting with E.coli, developing tools and sending cultures of bacteria around the world with UPS.  The bacteria+UPS element does tell us that DIY Bio is probably on its way to becoming one of the FBI’s favorite hobbies.

I’m personally most interested in the development of tools for DIY Bio. Cathal for example made a cheap centrifuge using 3D printers that people can buy or make at home. This kind of development has the potential to be a real force multiplier for the community. See a video of Cathal showing you his DremelFuge here. There is also a team working on an open PCR machine!

Going forward regulatory issues & terror fears will probably hurt DIY Bio.  It also has a strong icky-ness factor for some. But, the potential of the democratization of medical technology and biology in the home is both a scary and amazing one.

If you’re interested in more information here is a great post by Cathal detailing the state of DIY Bio at the moment.

Photograph is Creative Commons Attribution, JeabBapstiseParis