Video HiveBio is Working to Become Seattle's First Community Biology Lab (Video) 23
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HiveBio in Seattle is not the world's first community-based biology lab, but it may be the first one started by a high school student. Her name is Katriona Guthrie-Honea, and her co-founder is Bergen McMurray. They managed to get a lot of equipment and supplies donated to their new venture, along with a successful Microryza Campaign that raised $6425 even though their target was only $5100. They're renting space from a local hackerlab, and getting an insane amount of publicity for a venture that's just starting out. But why not? If Bergen's and Katriona's example can spur others to learn and create, whether in mechanical engineering, physics, electronics, computer science or biology, it's all good -- not only for the participants, but for anyone who might someday benefit from creations or discoveries made by people who got their first taste of hands-on science or engineering in a hackerspace or community biology lab.
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The Hive? (Score:3)
Resident Evil reference ... what could possibly go wrong ...
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I don't want to wish ill on these kids, but I see a very different reprisal as the death stroke.
Namely, this is a biolab. Biological research requires making, using, and experimenting on living tissue, and many cutting edge research branches in the bio/lifesciences fields require the production of chimeric cultures, and transgenic cell lines.
I am not saying this is ethically wrong. I am saying this is how it is, and that there is a very boistrous and angry demographic that is "very opposed" to such things,
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Just to make something clear: the opposition to transgenic organisms is not all by those who claim that it "violates the sanctity of gods creations"-the "or somesuch" can range to people who are miles away from fundamentalists.
I see quite a bit from liberals who complain about doing things that "Mother Nature" didn't do. Not that there is really a difference when it comes down to the line of argument, it's just that "zealot idiots" can come from anywhere.
And I also see a number of people among conservatives
What will happen first? (Score:2)
a) Someone tries to use it as a meth lab. Shut down.
b) Tenant in building complains. Shut down.
c) Reporter finds that a convicted violent felon is doing something there everyday. Shut down.
I'm very happy that they have $6K, but that probably won't even carry the annual liability insurance for a "public" biology lab.
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You forgot 4 and 5.
4) Local fundies discover that "atheist science!" Is done there, and conspire to shut it down.
5) PETA poopers show up to "liberate" the lab animals, causing a potential public health panic.
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As is pointed out in the summary, this is not the first of these. And as far as I know none of the ones we've heard about have been shut down for stupid reasons.
Let's keep the doom and gloom under our hats for now, and just wish them luck.
Hackerlab? (Score:2)
So, they're gonna be designing molecules on a Raspberry Pi computer and then 3D-printing the molecules with PLA filament via an Arduino-powered 3D printer?
Did I miss any meme?
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3D printing *could* play a useful research role for the biosciences community, but they wouldn't be printing with thermoplastics.
Rather, there was the recent research with producing lipid bilayer coated water droplets as tissue matricies, and there is the work with 3d printing whole organ systems using stemcells.
Doing that kind of thing would be fully synergistic (I hate that word..) with the hackerspace geeks they share premesis with, and would make their work both usefl and unlikey to spawn a massive publ
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Hey, where the makerspace women at?
Too Late (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure most office refrigerators are already considered "community biology labs".
Equipment List? (Score:2)
I don't see an equipment list anywhere. I would imagine that you'd be pretty limited in a small lab. I'm not sure what kinds of chemicals they plan to have access to as well (I saw what looked like a vertical gel box in the video but could not listen to audio where I was at, so presumably they'll need at least salts and acids/bases for making buffers).
Then again, I'm a biochemist, not a biologist, so maybe there is a fair bit of stuff you can do in a "biology" lab. However, the last time I was in a moder