Science

In typical style, I ignored the "Action required" bit.
I am happy to meet most places near a train.
Or ...
How about we meet at the Artifactory?

With this in mind, I have sent an email to see if they are open to this. Wed night (Arduino U) and sat afternoons are their most active times. It would also let us mingle and make contacts.

The email I sent is attached below.


Hi,
a bunch of people are looking to start up a biohackers group in Perth.
At our inaugural get together on the 29th of December, we noticed that there is a lot of overlap between our two groups of people.

Would it be possible to hold a get together for our people at the Artifactory, so we might meet some of your guys, and scope out any possibilities for interaction/collaboration? Our next meeting will be late in Jan 2016. I am thinking perhaps wed 23rd evening.

At this stage, we are busily trying to form our core community and group. I speak with no authority for no members. This makes this a "scoping" message. Nevertheless, I think that there are loads of room for common ground, and I know that a bit of biotech certainly spices up arduino projects!


Cheers,
Leon



Regards,
H.

On Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at 2:45:51 PM UTC+8, BigSteve wrote:

Hi Everyone,

What Happened:

We had a great meet-up at Clancy's in Fremantle yesterday. 

Harristotle offered a great wealth of formal and DIY experience and is well connected within WA.

Mike (from BioFoundry) discussed a number of the challenges and opportunities that come with creating a biohacking community.

There is already a fantastic network of DIYBio throughout Australia. We do not need to reinvent the wheel, we are not alone in this endeavor.

The handful of us who met yesterday are enthusiastic and motivated. We are confident that with some online exposure and time, many more people will become involved. It has become blindingly apparent that there is a LOT of garage and kitchen science happening in WA schools and homes, let us build on that!

In short, 2016 will be an exciting year for DIyBio in WA!

Short Term Plan:

As a community, it would be great to build the online presence and find out who else in WA is interested. Please cross-link to any other groups and spread the word!

Building an online group is delightfully free of cost and not reliant on anyone person. Post, Discuss, Argue, Collaborate!

Medium Term Plan:

I am hoping that we can engage with one of the maker-spaces in WA, it would be great if we could combine the creative talent and hacker/maker ethos.

Anyone involved in Artifactory or West Coast Makers, please raise your voice!

Another suggestion was to approach the various Universities from a Community-Engagement perspective. We should also aim to engage high-school or university students and teachers. There is a great deal of knowledge, expertise and energy out there.

Any students who are reading this, your involvement would be welcome! Experience or Level doesn't matter (I am a very proud high-school drop-out :) )

Something to start with:

In the meantime, Harristotle has posted an interesting, easy and safe experiment on this forum. It's a great place to start for getting your feet wet (or muddy).

Any posts about projects are welcome.

ACTION REQUIRED:

How about we plan for another meet-up at the end of January 2016?

The specific date and location around the greater Metro Area is flexible.

Hi Everyone,

Oh man we almost have Aus covered now! Great work guys please be sure to post back here if you start any web resources that can keep the rest of the Australian community up to date with your activities!  I'm Andrew from BioQuisitive in Melbourne add me on skype at Andrewyay8 

On Friday, July 5, 2013 at 2:00:37 PM UTC+10, Benedict wrote:

Hi, does anyone know if there are any groups in Perth? If not, are there any individuals here from Perth doing DIYBio work by themselves?

Hey  John,On Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 9:50:47 AM UTC-5, John Griessen wrote:

On 12/28/2015 10:32 PM, Grant Gumina wrote:
> A friend and I have been toying around with building modules for the OpenTrons. We think it'd be cool to have a centrifuge,

Those need balance in your holder, even if it is low speed low cost plastic.  I'd plan on including an accelerometer in each
one to detect unbalance, plus timing marks on the custom plastic spindle, a detector for the marks.  Then users could re-balance
with hints of where to add weight, and fine tune an empty spindle to be balanced, and install a new spindle or different type and
re-balance.
But then, I'm a systems engineer...

> an arm that can open/close pipets,

I'd use a micropython microcontroller for that -- not sure what kind of mechanism.  Are you thinking of
a screw actuator for a micropipettor with plunger designed for a human thumb?  Sounds like custom plastics again...


and also a HEPA filter/Laminar Flow Hood attachment. Given the complexity of the first two ideas,
> we've started designing a filtration module for the OT.
>
> We're thinking that the market size is probably pretty small, so I'd love to get your feedback on this. Basically we're thinking
> about building an enclosure for the OT that'd have a blower adjacent to a HEPA filter - similar to the design discussed here
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#%21searchin/diybio/hepa$20filter/diybio/YJUQsaZc70o/Mk3UN3yNMRMJ>.

If you are thinking of the vertical flowbox with fan on top, I like the small footprint of that design.


> Ideally, we'd like to sell them to OT owners (this is where the small market size comes in haha) and we're thinking that pricing
> could go as high as $500 depending on how we build it.

$500 US seems high.  I'm learning some low volume plastic molding tech soon so I can make niche products with plastic parts
that are high performance and low cost.  Also planning a HEPA media folding robot, but not next month.


> I'd love to get your general thoughts on the above, as well as to the following questions:
>
>  1. What kinds of experiments are you currently not able to run with an OT due to contamination concerns? (if you don't have an OT
>     - what kind of experiments would you like to run with one but can't for the same reason?)
no lab work yet.
>  2. What filtration systems are you using in your labs currently? (names/brands)
no lab work yet.
>  3. If you use a laminar flow hood, which class of hood do you use? (I, II, III, V)
no lab work yet.

Hi Steve.
Good to meet everybody tonight. I think we may have the start of something.

Here is the write up on making microbial fuel cells. My students did this in 2012, and we got detectable voltage and current. I reckon it would be great to throw this out to the community, not just in Perth but around the globe to see if we can find some good isolates. Maybe we could organise a competition/challenge?

So How is this for an idea to kick off our new group:

Grab a sample of mud, or soil, or even sand that exists near the interface of an aerobic to anaerobic zone, and see who can get the best power out of a microbial fuel cell.


Details on making one are cut and pasted from an article I submitted to Helix, a few years back (minus photos, to be nice on diybio!).

All aerobic organisms gain the majority of their cellular energy from the movement of high energy electron carriers through their electron transport chains. In humans, as in other animals and plants, this occurs through the electron transport chain located on the inner mitochondrial membrane. In bacteria and other prokaryotic organisms (prokaryotic = cells without a nucleus), it occurs on their cell membrane. There is a lot of interest in finding ways to intercept these high energy electron carriers and using their energy to force electrons through an external circuit^1,2. In other words, it is possible to make a battery out of bacteria, or more precisely, a fuel cell. Fuel cells differ from batteries in that they never go flat, so long as they are continuously fed with a source of chemical energy.  It is remarkably easy to make a simple fuel cell, using only mud, graphite art pens, wire, and a source of cellulose such as tissue paper. This makes the activity very suitable for a science extension or specialist class, or any class with an integrated STEM focus.

Activity: Stealing electrons from bacteria: making a microbial fuel cell.
Our extension students researched and made a microbial fuel cell, then visited Murdoch University to see a lab where such cells were being researched.

 

 

Figure 1 Construction of a microbial fuel cell

To Do

Step 1: Collect a polystyrene cup, two 6B graphite art blocks (Koh-i-Noor, www.koh-i-noor.eu, or similar), 2 lengths of 20cm insulated copper wire("old ethernet wire"), and silicone.

Step 2: Prepare the electrodes: Drill a small hole with a pin or pcb drill into the graphite. Strip some wire to make approximately 2cm of wire bare. Bend the bare wire end over so that it presses against the hole you drilled in the graphite and makes good electrical contact. Cover the bare wire joint, and the end of the graphite rod with silicone, and allow to dry for 24h. You may optionally attach a tube and a syringe connector to the electrode so that you can feed the microbes on it with other substances such as sugar.(Diabetic students (or staff !) with insulin pumps are great sources of this type of syringe connector!) (Fuel Cell Figure 1)


Step 3: Place one electrode on the bottom of the polystyrene cup and completely cover with creek mud, mixed with a small amount of torn up tissue paper (food for the microbes). You should have approximately the bottom quarter of the cup covered with mud and paper. (fuel Cell Figure 2)

Step 4: Gently fill the cup up with creek water. Place the other electrode and wire into the cup. Don't let the two electrodes touch!

Step 5: Connect a sensitive micro-ammeter (eg a multimeter set to read microamps) to measure the current flow between the two electrodes. It wont be much! It also is likely to decrease while you are measuring it. How does it change over time? What is the potential difference (voltage) between the two electrodes? (Fuel Cell Figure 3)

Possible extensions

Do the cells produce different amounts of energy when they are fed different types of chemicals (eg sucrose versus glucose vesus acetate?)

It is known (R. Cord, pers comm.) that if you "train" the microbial fuel cell by slowly decreasing the resistance of the external circuit, it becomes capable of producing more energy. What visible changes at the electrode surface accompany this? Can you selectively grow organisms that conduct electricity? It is known that such organisms may be important in some sediment communities³.

Can you design a more efficient fuel cell (the one you just made was very weak!)?. Think about flow rates, surface area, and oxygen transport.

Finally, here we all are at Murdoch University, in the lab of Dr Cord, looking at his fuel cells!

 

 

References

1.       Tweed, K (2012) http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microbial-fuel-cell-treats-wastewater-harvests-energy/  accessed 16/07/2014

2.       Connolly, N; Yecha, P; Beyenal, H; Lantz, B; & Dewan, D (2009) http://voiland.wsu.edu/modules/2009/introduction_to_sediment.doc  accessed 16/07/2014

3.       Stromberg, J (2012) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/live-wires-newly-discovered-seafloor-bacteria-conduct-electricity-92123933/ accessed 16/07/2014

 

On Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 4:07:17 PM UTC+8, BigSteve wrote:

We a are on the big couches out the back. Of Clancy's Fish Pub, Fremantle. Will be here till 7ish.

Hi Bhavana,

I'm new here, but I wanted to run an idea I've had by you guys. A friend and I have been toying around with building modules for the OpenTrons. We think it'd be cool to have a centrifuge, an arm that can open/close pipets, and also a HEPA filter/Laminar Flow Hood attachment. Given the complexity of the first two ideas, we've started designing a filtration module for the OT.

Hi Nathan,
On Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at 2:18:02 AM UTC+5:30, Nathan McCorkle wrote:

It looks like you're in Mumbai, so I think you should be able to get setup and outfitted relatively easily, since Mumbai is a big shipping port.

I would check alibaba.com and aliexpress.com, there are many equipment suppliers there from India. Things like scalpels, tweezers, glassware, bunsen or alcohol burners, spectroscopes (the really old kind, like here: http://www.scitechantiques.com/Spectroscope/images/463PrismSpectrometer.jpg) as well as chemicals and biologics (enzymes and such).

You can also search the DIYBio archives, I have definitely posted some Indian bio chem suppliers before.

As for a committee, it is not required as DIYbio is all about de-centralized science... but it is very useful to have small local organizations to keep things legal and more importantly safe, and also provide mentorship and guidance, help with logistics (ordering supplies, dealing with suppliers or landlords, utility companies, getting advertisments or signs printed, etc...).

Read through these to get started, and keep asking questions! Welcome!!!

http://openwetware.org/wiki/DIYbio/FAQ

http://diyhpl.us/wiki/diybio/faq/

http://diybio.org/safety/biosafety-resources/

Again, Welcome!

-Nathan

On Sun, Dec 6, 2015 at 10:39 PM, BHAVNA PANDYA <bhavna...@somaiya.edu> wrote:

Hello Everyone,

Myself Bhavna Pandya, Innovation catalyst at RiiDL (Reseach Innovation Incubation Design labs) (www.riidl.org), India. I have done Masters in Microbiology, few weeks back I heard a concept of DIY bio and I am totally impressed with this concept, so I am looking forward to start a DIY bio lab here. I have a space of 1200 sq ft but no instruments, so please tell me how to start with it ? and this concept is very new here, so any opinion or suggestions how to build a community for the same ?

eagerly waiting for the reply

thank you,

              

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