Re: [DIYbio] Re: DIYBIO in the news..."Amateurs Are New Fear in Creating Mutant Virus"

1.  ...D.I.Y. biologists sometimes laugh at the sinister powers people think they have. "People overestimate our technological abilities and underestimate our ethics," said Jason Bobe, a founder of DIYbio.org.

2.  ...Todd Kuiken, a senior research associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington who specializes in the movement, points out that typical D.I.Y. projects are relatively simple, like inserting a gene into bacteria to make them glow. Producing viruses involves much more expensive equipment to do things like rearing host cells. "It's not going to happen in someone's basement," he said.

3.  ...Nor do these amateurs have the years of training it takes to grow viruses successfully. "It's like I say, 'I want to be a four-star chef,' " said Dr. Jorgensen, the president of Genspace, who worked with viruses for her Ph.D. "You can read about it, but unless someone teaches you side by side, I don't think you're going to get far."

-Chris