Re: [DIYbio] Why aren't DIYbio events being posted here? Regional DIYbio lists splinter the community,

On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 2:56 AM, Nathan McCorkle <nmz787@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/26/do-it-yourself-biotech-spread/

""
Kevin Lustig spins a prize wheel in the vacant City of Carlsbad owned
building on Faraday Avenue that will soon be inhabited by a community
biotech center. He and Joseph Jackson, at right, will help lead the
project. The wheel was left over from a previous event held at the
building. — CHARLIE NEUMAN/U-T San Diego/ZUMA Press

CARLSBAD — Carlsbad is home to some of San Diego County's biggest
biotech companies, such as Life Technologies and Isis Pharmaceuticals.
That's no accident, the city has long courted biotech because it's a
growing industry with well-paying jobs.

Now the city is also considering turning to the smallest players in
biotech, individual hobbyists and entrepreneurs, to keep the industry
thriving there.

The Carlsbad City Council is scheduled to consider on Tuesday whether
to lease a vacant building it owns to a loose-knit group of biotech
aficionados, for a nominal fee. The group, called DIYbio San Diego, is
one of several do-it-yourself biotech organizations in the country
devoted to making the tools and practice of biotech available to
anyone willing to learn.

Much like computer hobbyists of decades ago, these "biohackers" —
scientists, entrepreneurs and tinkerers — say the knowledge of biotech
shouldn't be locked behind the doors of companies and institutions.

"We believe that if biotech is to be as revolutionary in the 21st
century as the personal computer and the automobile were in the 20th,
that it needs to reach beyond the walls of academia and industry to
the hobbyist and the self-starter," states the group's manifesto. "In
a field where a Ph.D is often taken as minimum requirement, we want to
throw open the doors to everyone with a kitchen sink and a desire to
learn."

Assuming the city council approves the deal, the center will provide a
social hub for biotech enthusiasts, said Kevin Lustig, one of the
group's leaders.

"You can come in, you can talk to like-minded people, and you can use
the equipment," Lustig said. "A lot of the equipment in my garage that
my wife wants to get rid of is going to get set up here."

The sheer pleasure of pursuing an idea is a powerful motivator, Lustig
said. Amateurs and hobbyists tinker with biotech because they like
pursuing knowledge for its own sake. And at the other end, biotech
professionals who want to do their own thing can use the space to
pursue their ideas.

"We're going to be able to pull from a lot of expertise from folks
from the industry," Lustig said. "They may have their own
well-developed research projects that they want to work on but aren't
able to do in their day-job setting."

If all goes well, biotech companies will emerge from this mixture of
professionals and interested amateurs, Lustig said.

"We really want to serve as a startup incubator," Lustig said. "We
want people to take some of these ideas, do some basic experiments in
the laboratory, and translate those results into fundraising and a
startup company. We even believe you can run companies out of this
space, in a virtual mode."

That possibility excites Carlsbad officials, said Kathy Dodson, the
city's economic development manager.

"We would like to see the creation of jobs," Dodson said. "The life
science sector is really strong here in Carlsbad, so this plays into
what our businesses are already doing. It's been a strategic goal of
the council for several years to have an incubator here."

Dodson, Lustig and other DIYbio San Diego leaders were interviewed at
the group's prospective new home at 2351 Faraday Ave. The
6,000-square-foot building, formerly occupied by an insurance company,
was empty aside from some plastic chairs and a few tables. A practice
putter and a numbers wheel remained from the previous inhabitants.

To turn the building into a functioning biotech space, basic
infrastructure such as sinks must be installed, along with lab
equipment. And money will have to be raised for maintenance and
operating expenses. Lustig said the group plans to ask local biotech
companies for support.

There's a larger purpose to DIY, or community, biotech groups than
curiosity and job creation, said Joseph Jackson, another group leader.
That purpose is to revitalize the individual inventor's role in
America.

"We had a long tradition of that with the Wright Brothers, as bicycle
mechanics that prototyped an airplane," Jackson said. "(Thomas) Edison
became this industrial titan, and then we had Bell Labs and a long
tradition of corporate R&D, but that's died off. We're trying to fill
a need here, a new niche that can hopefully get back to our roots of
innovation in this country."

The various biotech groups can also provide security expertise, said
Jeff Cassett, weapons of mass destruction coordinator for the San
Diego Division of the FBI. Cassett joined the group last February,
according to its website.

Cassett said he joined to provide a point of contact so that if group
members see anything amiss, they'll know who to call.

"Early on, from our perspective, it was something we didn't understand
very well," Cassett said. "So interaction with these folks have helped
us understand what that movement is all about, how we can be helpful
to that movement, and how they can be helpful to us."

DIY biotech has been around for decades. In a 1992 column in the Los
Angeles Times, innovation expert Michael Schrage predicted the rise of
"bathtub biotechnology."

The website diybio.org lists 16 groups in the United States, including
Sunnyvale, known as BioCurious, San Francisco (BioBridge) and Los
Angeles (LA BioHackers).

Most of these groups have no building of their own; they meet wherever
they can find the space. What's billed as the country's first
community biotech lab was founded in 2010 in Brooklyn under the name
of Genspace.

Having a physical location exclusively dedicated to biotech allows
Genspace's members to focus on their work, said Oliver Medvedik, its
co-founder and director of scientific programs.

"You have a space that's not your bedroom, for example," Medvedik
said. "You have laboratory space with a sink and that's proper to
carry out experiments."

Sharing equipment among members saves money because the equipment is
used more efficiently, Medvedik said. "Nobody uses a centrifuge 24-7
by themselves," he said.

Members commonly use the equipment to study DNA, perhaps their own,
Medvedik said. They may perform safe experiments such as transplanting
a fluorescence-producing gene into yeast. The purpose is mainly
educational.

The lab also supports serious research. Medvedik said he's working on
biosensors that can detect arsenic and other contaminants in drinking
water. The goal is to make a cheap device that can be used in
developing nations for public health.

The laboratory is rated as Biosafety Level One, meaning that it deals
in well-understood organisms that typically don't cause disease.
Lustig, of DIYbio San Diego, said the Carlsbad center will operate
under the same conditions.
"""

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507

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