In Attics and Closets, 'Biohackers' Discover Their Inner Frankenstein

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124207326903607931.html#mod=djemTMB


In Massachusetts, a young woman makes genetically modified E. coli in a closet she converted into a home lab. A part-time DJ in Berkeley, Calif., works in his attic to cultivate viruses extracted from sewage. In Seattle, a grad-school dropout wants to breed algae in a personal biology lab.

These hobbyists represent a growing strain of geekdom known as biohacking, in which do-it-yourselfers tinker with the building blocks of life in the comfort of their own homes. Some of them buy DNA online, then fiddle with it in hopes of curing diseases or finding new biofuels.

But are biohackers a threat to national security?

-snip-

The man on the other end of the line was Nils Gilman, a researcher with Monitor 360, a San Francisco company that provides "geo-strategic" research. Mr. Gilman declined to identify his client, saying only that it's a branch of the U.S. government involved in biosecurity. "I think they want to know, is this something we need to worry about?" he said -- particularly, could the biohackers' gadgets and methods, in the wrong hands, create dangerous pathogens?

Mr. Gilman's claim that he is working for the U.S. government couldn't be verified. A Department of Homeland Security official said "it does not appear that we contract with Monitor 360." A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment, and a Department of Defense official said he couldn't find any record of the department hiring Monitor 360 or its parent company, Monitor Group. But he said another arm of Monitor Group has done work for the department in recent years.

-snip-

The easy availability of synthetic DNA is at the heart of some scientists' concerns. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a government body, has recommended that companies selling DNA be required to screen all orders for signs that the buyers might have nefarious intent. Some biologists argue that anyone wishing to custom-make new organisms, even if it's just glow-in-the-dark bacteria (a popular trick among biohackers), should have to get a license first.

Currently, regulation of labs like these is murky. It's unclear what agency, if any, is responsible.
-snip-
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wow

this should cause the religiously insane to have fits

After seeing this kind of science disparaged for the last eight years ...

:kick:

WTF is that??? My science fiction disaster story spider sense is going off.

nt

Crazy shit.

Biohackers attempt to unstitch the fabric of life
December 27, 2008
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article5400645.ece

'Biohackers' Push DIY Science in the Basement
Posted Sep 15, 08 12:28 PM CDT
http://www.newser.com/story/37486/biohackers-push-diy-science-in-the-basement.html


Synthetic biology, ethics and the hacker culture
June 13, 2008
http://2020science.org/2008/06/13/8613-synthetic-biology-ethics-and-the-hacker-culture/

Experts worry that synthetic biology may spawn biohackers
06/29/2004
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ODGE0L5MNKLSOQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=22102744&_requestid=75899

And for those who want to actually do it, here's the web site to inact with your fellow biohackers: http://diybio.org/

Here's the research I dug up it doesn't really give any details except they received a Gov. Grant from
(DEPT. OF COMMERCE - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION Project Description RURAL CLUSTERS STUDY) and non-Fed funding:



Fiscal Year........................... 2006

Fiscal Year / Quarter.......... 20064

Action Type new assistance action

Federal Funding Amount.................. $222,380

Non-Federal Funding Amount ........... $250,000

Total Funding Amount..................... $472,380

Obligation / Action Date 06/15/2006

Starting Date 06/15/2006

Ending Date 12/15/2007

Record Type individual action

Correction / Late Indicator late reporting of an action occurring in a prior quarter

Corrected Fiscal Year / Quarter 20063


http://www.fedspending.org/faads/faads.php?fiscal_year=2006&recip_id=620720&sortby=u&datype=T&reptype=r&database=faads&detail=4&submit=GO

Corporations--large and small--have been toying with this stuff for decades with close to zero oversight and accountability. Now that prices have gone down enough to put the technology into independent researcher's hands it is suddenly horrible and frightening?

We don't need to be afraid of the fact that technology is improving so much that the means of production and research has fallen into our hands. This is a very, very GOOD thing! If you associate all of these people's research with "terrorism" you are not only doing a disservice to them, you are doing a disservice to our society as a whole. When you buy into this fear, uncertainty, and doubt brought to you by the "war on terror" crowd you fuel the very real war on scientific advancement. Why would you want to help them fight their war against you?

So any clown with half a brain can sell his car, pony up 10 grand, create a strain of ecoli that makes digestion in every mammal virtually impossible and wipe out the planet..