Do it yourself biotechnology

Feeling bored? In need of new hobby?

KATHERINE AULL's laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, lacks a few mod cons. "Down here I have a thermocycler I bought on eBay for 59 bucks," she says, pulling out a large, box-shaped device she uses to copy short strands of DNA. "The rest is just home brew," she adds, pointing to a centrifuge made out of a power drill and plastic food container, and a styrofoam incubator warmed with a heating pad normally used in terrariums.

www.newscientist.com...

Sometimes I think: o well I know just about anything that is going on in the world and then I encounter news so new and weird I might add.

What do you guys think of all this?

WHile I think there are pros and cons to anything, personally I love stuff like this.

Having said that, she's is highly qualified and seems to have created something truly cool. I personally should not be setting up a bio-engineering lab in my place.

But I think home science when done right is great.

Nice find.

spiderj

Yip i think people who do this would have a grasp on what they are doing in the first place,plus its always good for homebrew whatever it may be...keeps dodgy funders out of the way and people can start being creative.Thumbs up from me>

Did you all read the whole article? I mean adjusting say bacteria to create a new type in it self is interesting. Sure. But how can these tinkerers guarantee safety? What if their new pets get released in the environment? I am very open, but this all to me is a bit freaky.

reply to post by QueenofWeird

But how can these tinkerers guarantee safety? What if their new pets get released in the environment?

This was a widespread concern a few years back. It's still something to take precautions against, but we've found that, in the wild, genetically-engineered organisms rarely stand a chance against the ones perfected by evolution. They get devoured and eradicated by common parasites and predators long before they reach the point where they could pose a danger to anybody.