Let me preface my point with a story.
About 5 years ago or so I went to a Genome conference in Boston. In between talks I was in the lobby and mingling with people, some around my own age at the time, early twenties. I met a kid and we got to talking. I said I was involved at a local community lab in Boston and did research stuff at home or at school on the side. He asked what we did at the lab and I said we did GFP transformations, DNA barcoding, etc. Basic molecular biology.
He said that was neat and all, but what he really wanted to do, and I'm not making this up was -- "I want to make like, a crazy virus, and put it on random door-handles"
I'll never forget that.
All of us in this community have a responsibility to ourselves, the world, the public, and each-other, to be exemplars of responsible citizen scientists. There's a person on this group that waited years for a license just to be able to do a GFP transformation outside of a lab in an EU country.
We enjoy a lot more freedom in the US for at-home or extra curricular science and engineering. No doubt though, garage and basement scientists are under scrutiny, whether it be from some invisible all-seeing government entity, the media, the general public, or even each-other.
I'm not saying don't go off the beaten path and be creative, inventive, or resourceful. I applaud your enthusiasm and tenacity, get that shit done.
All I'm saying is each and every one of us could be in the spotlight, and we should maintain a certain level of care in what we do, for our own well being, our neighbors well being, and the community we're all a part of here.
I don't know your background, skills, your circumstances, or access to space. You could be ultra-qualified to be processing blood samples and could be working in a university lab space you rent or are a part of where it's safe to handle these type of specimens.
I'm not trying to put you on blast here, I'm just saying, would you want someone you don't know processing human blood contaminated with Zika virus in a salad spinner centrifuge and lightbulb PCR machine in the apartment next door, and throwing everything out in the trash?
On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 8:51 PM, Jake <jakestew@mail.com> wrote:
I was under the impression that this was a matter of curiosity rather than a medical issue... but yes, it is always better to outsource your medical needs to non-internet strangers, or internet based strangers that have paid their dues to the powers that be.--I would point out though that there's nothing wrong about drawing your own samples, every sample is mailed to a lab somewhere, and all blood products are considered potentially hazardous regardless of the source.
On Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 5:18:15 PM UTC-7, Dakota wrote:I'm all for affordable and accessible diagnostics, but you should probably go to the doctors and not send potentially hazardous infectious self-drawn blood samples to a stranger from the internet.
On Mar 30, 2016 8:06 PM, "Jake" <jake...@mail.com> wrote:Haven't tried this as I'm not in a Zika zone or traveled through one. I would think that as long as you have a thermocycler or are willing to do it manually... It should be simple enough.--Extract DNA, add primers and master mix, cycle, dye, and spec or run on gel.I might be interested in trying this if I can get a presumed positive sample... You did draw a vial of blood and freeze it right?-Jake
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