[DIYbio] Re: Is there interest in lower cost restriction enzyme varieties?

Basically what I'm trying to brainstorm right now is how can we continue to make independent biology more accessible. Barriers to entry have been greatly reduced in terms of equipment used - with various open source PCR designs, DIY PCR projects, DIY gel electrophoresis, etc. However not much has been done to reduce cost/barriers in acquiring reagents. I think a good first step might be making restriction enzymes more accessible.  Preferably to someone that doesn't have an advanced degree - think students in high school, aspiring amateur biologists, tinkerers, hobbyists, etc. 

I suppose what I want to see is people tinkering inexpensively in their garages similar to what people did in the 70s with electronics and computers. I want to see people be able to teach themselves hands on, in their own way, and on their own time about biotechnology. Were not there yet but I hope soon we can target consumers and tinkering can be as easy as purchasing a kit for biotechnology similar to these for electronics http://www.radioshack.com/electronics-learning-lab-kit/2800055.html#.VGrck3Wx15Q or like this for learning about microcontrollers http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoStarterKit. If you are tinkering with various plasmids, inserts, or want to ligate multiple inserts it seems to me you will quickly find yourself needing more than just a few restriction enzymes. But lets say you had 5 different varieties of restriction enzymes. This would most likely cost you around $275-$300 (assuming you buy the smallest quantities available) + shipping costs. For a hobbyist or tinkerer, who has around $100-$300 per month to spend on a hobby, then otherwise very intelligent people will probably simply take the path of least resistance and teach themselves how to program a computer, how to build computers, how to tinker with electronics, etc. 

As it is right now we don't live in a world where exploring and tinkering with biology is accessible. Even though it looks like there are quite a few community labs around the world (http://diybio.org/local/) there are still very few relative to the amount of people who may be interested in biology and geographic distances still make them quite innacessible for most. Plus there are still plenty of people who would prefer to tinker in their own home or workshop. I think both community spaces and independent spaces have advantages. I think one benefit of being able to work in an independent space is not being affected by group think mentality in terms of what you 'should' or 'need' to learn. 

Lets imagine for a moment though that the price of chemicals and reagents wasn't an issue for most people, which I do think it is. To order a few reagents you still need to establish a commercial address, establish a business, or a non-profit that focuses on education or research and development. Imagine if you had to do this simply to acquire a few resistors, diodes, and ICs in the 1970s and 80s. You are required to do this even if you just want to order a simple educational kit from Carolina Scientific.

http://www.amazon.com/Python-Programming-Introduction-Computer-Science/dp/1590282418/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416291834&sr=1-3&keywords=programming Right now the average person can purchase this book and accomplish everything described in the book. Though I feel that with a book like this http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805330402/biolink-20 the average person wouldnt be able to accomplish anything.

I think you all bring up an important point when it comes to the logistics of shipping.

@SC you gave me an idea. I wonder if any of the community labs out there would have interest in selling small quantities of restriction enzymes (and other reagents) to members and non members who may be a few hours drive away - or simply don't desire to participate in a community lab environment. This could be a potential source of revenue for community labs, reduce costs of membership, and further expand the boundaries of who can participate in independent biology exploration.

@llya Levantis - Exactly! But after reading the other comments I realized there will most likely be a logistics issue with individuals needing to restock only one of the restriction enzymes they are out of. Then there will be the logistics cost of shipping for single reagents.

I did a little searching for dry ice and it really doesn't seem that expensive. Seems to be in the range of $1-$2/pound. I believe thats a little over 1/2 liter. Too tired to do the math right now. Of course in the end I'll need to look into more what the costs/restrictions are with shipping dry ice/biological reagents, how quickly dry ice sublimates, etc.

I'm tired but want to think about all this more. Perhaps there wouldn't be much interest for people who are already involved with DIYBio - and if I really want to make things more accessible for people learning from the ground up perhaps restriction enzymes are not the best way to start - as you can't exactly do anything with just restriction enzymes. So perhaps I should focus more on something like an inexpensive educational kit. I wish there were a way to benefit both communities - those with education / or who have access to a community labs, and those without. Perhaps pursuing an idea to see if community labs also would want to serve as distribution hubs might be worthwile I'm not sure. If community labs did have interest in this then it might be possible in the future for individuals to purchase a book on biology and biotechnology experiments, while purchasing what they need from community labs.

@Josiah Zayner I really like what you've done. I actually didn't think there were any sites/online stores in existance like yours. Need to take a closer look later.