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.
On Saturday, November 15, 2014 4:43:49 AM UTC-8, DrBrian wrote:
https://www.neb.com/products/e0546-biobrick-assembly-kit is avalioable
for biobrick assembly.
Not exactly what you are wanting but interesting, if a little pricey still.
The BioBrick® Assembly Kit provides a streamlined method for assembly
of BioBrick parts into multi-component genetic systems. BioBrick parts
are DNA sequences that encode a defined biological function and can be
readily assembled with any other BioBrick part. The process for
assembling any two BioBrick parts is identical and results in a new
composite BioBrick part.
The BioBrick Assembly Kit contains EcoRI-HF™, XbaI, SpeI, PstI, T4 DNA
Ligase and NEBuffer 2.1.
On Sat, Nov 15, 2014 at 6:25 AM, Koeng <koen...@gmail.com> wrote:
> This makes sense. Some enzymes are more resistant than others though. BbsI,
> for example, begins to degrade at -20.
>
> I would like to know if there is a relationship between protein stability at
> room temperature and heat inactivation... I'd assume so since its all about
> protein stability. BamHI can't be heat inactivated (super unfortunate for
> BglBrick assembly, however I am actually currently discussing with NEB about
> one of their variants that is heat inactivatable! Gotta have BglII too
> though).
>
>
> It seems like another simple experiment could be in place here. Keep a stock
> of diluted BamHI at room temperature and a stock of diluted BamHI at -20.
> (dilution because enzymes are expensive man). Keep these both at their
> temperatures for a month. After that month, take them both out and do serial
> dilutions and run it on some lambda DNA, then do a gel. The dilutions will
> eventually be below a unit, and then not cut all of the lambda DNA. In a
> perfect world, this would be at the same dilutions of both. In a realistic
> world, I would estimate a ~75% loss of activity because I am a pessimist.
>
> If I get time next week I'll set up that experiment
>
>
>
> btw, sorry for changing the topic on the thread. Really if you want good
> enzymes, just work to buy em from NEB. I talked to one of the price
> specialists a week or 2 ago and the main reason they do the quantity is
> because they want a universal base price of 'around 50 dollars for 500
> units' universally. Most labs only use a few enzymes anyway, and a variety
> pack wouldn't really be useful to *most* labs because there isn't a need.
> They already have their cloning systems down and know what to use. If enough
> DIYbiologists get together to actually ask, however, and show there is a
> demand for it, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't go for it, other
> than it is hard to do that little of enzyme in a tube. If it comes to
> expressing it yourself, I have SpeI and XbaI fully synthesized with their
> methylase, you just need to actually clone it into an expression vector.
> Purification is a whole other issue, one I'm not skilled at :) . I honestly
> think it is hard to beat NEBs prices
>
> -Koeng
>
>
> On Friday, November 14, 2014 11:24:03 AM UTC-8, Mega [Andreas Stuermer]
> wrote:
>>
>> There is that paper that says some restriction enzymes are stable at room
>> temperature for 6 months - and still retain like 99% activity after that
>> period IIRC.
>>
>> I don't remember which enzymes it were (BamHI?)... The paper was discussed
>> here a year ago or so...
>>
>> If you kept them at 4°C or -20°C that would surely be better. And
>> available.
>>
>>
>>
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