TheHomeScientist Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Here's an excellent article on one of the leading lights in the DIY biology movement. http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39597/ This young man is doing recombinant DNA and other very advanced biology work, literally in a spare bedroom, on a shoestring budget. If you have a student who's deeply interested in biology, it's worth checking out the DIY bio movement. Incidentally, the doomsday scenarios that are often used to create fear about DIY bio usually center on some kid creating and releasing a "super bug". Those fears are overblown to say the least. Even if a genetically-modified microorganism were released, it has zero years of evolution to adapt to its environment. It immediately finds itself surrounded by trillions of other microorganisms, all of which have billions of years of evolution behind them, and many of which would see the new microorganism as a tasty snack. The chance that any DIY bio enthusiast could intentionally create a dangerous pathogen that could survive in the wild are minuscule; the chance of someone doing that unintentionally are vanishingly small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I thought the common AP Bio transformation lab I did in school was cool, but I think this is even cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Very nice. Thank you for sharing and for your added insights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineW Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Very nice. Thank you for sharing and for your added insights. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Love!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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