Re: [DIYbio] 3D printing medical devices

On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 9:48 PM, Jason Bobe <jasonbobe@gmail.com> wrote:
[snip]
> I've always thought of DIYbio very broadly. I'm afraid of falling down the
> rabbit hole with you on definitions,

Down the rabbit hole, you get to Wonderland, where Humpty Dumpty is
telling you that a word means whatever he wants it to mean. Let's not
follow Alice there.

> ... but diagnostics, sensing devices,
> health and medical equipment and devices, are all things that I have always
> considered in the scope of DIYbio (these areas motivate much of my
> participation in the community).

The specific example that brought this up was using 3D printing to
make a bone replacement. That's not a device or a piece of equipment.
Installing a hip replacement is not something you do on yourself. In
the part of the Wikipedia article I deleted, the bone replacement
material was metallic. Biomimesis, yes. But is it Do It Yourself
Biology? How so?

Now, I'd say it *might* make some sense to say that making parts of
*equipment* that has DIYbio applications using 3D printing might make
some sense, if the application of the equipment was specifically
biological.

> ... I hope lots more folks join the community
> from these domains.

Who joins an activity from what community doesn't define a term,
especially if there's an element of hobbyism to the activity, meaning
that anyone can join. And I'm trying to figure out how the domain is
defined, so that the decision about Wikipedia articles (merging,
deleting, editing) can be made with reference to definitions.

> In terms of sources for Wikipedia. Jordan Miller, who works partly out of
> hive76 in Philly has left a trail of citable sources:
>
> http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18677627

... which is about giving up on biology as a medium for 3D printing,
because the cells die, and going with something not alive.

> http://summit.oshwa.org/sweet-science-3d-printed-sugar-templates-for-regenerative-medicine/

Same thing.

> http://blog.nextfabstudio.com/post/26577479621/our-3d-printer-workshop-instructor-jordan-miller-on-bbc

Same thing.

> http://3dprinterbuildingworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Workshop instructor's "research in the department of Bioengineering
combines chemistry and rapid prototyping to direct cultured human
cells to form more complex organizations of living vessels and
tissues."

Which doesn't really speak to the issue of whether using NON-living
things to make *other* NON-living things should count as DIYbio.
Where's the biology? In the case of implants, "biomimesis", perhaps.
Besides, this looks like this was just a generic 3D printing workshop.

3D printing is a generic technology. Spreadsheets are a generic
technology. If I use a spreadsheet to keep track of lab data, does
that make spreadsheet technology DIYbio? If I use the same spreadsheet
software for meal planning, does that make meal planning DIYbio?
(Meals are made out of cells, right?)

Where does it end?

Regards,
Michael Turner
Project Persephone
1-25-33 Takadanobaba
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 169-0075
(+81) 90-5203-8682
turner@projectpersephone.org
http://www.projectpersephone.org/

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry


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