Re: [DIYbio] Re: How to advance a DIYBio lab beyond the basics.

Hi John,
As you ask I will answer here to your very first email, how to advance a DIYbio lab beyond the basics.
You say that you don't have the luxury of having a MSc or PhD person in your team, well I think that is what you should try to focus on. I personally think DIYbio lab are a great place to mix scientists and non-scientists. And it might actually be easier than you think to get one in your team. Try posting adds around, so that people in universities or biotechs can see it. There are plenty of scientists who have never heard about DIYbio movement and instantly want to engage in it when they hear about it. Someone with training in microbiology / synthetic biology could help you push projects much further, just sharing their expertise. They will tell you what's unfeasible and what's a good idea, what sort of cloning strategy you should use, what plasmid you can buy, etc.  

I'm part of Boslab in the Boston area, and we have tons of scientists coming at very event we organize. We are definitely lucky to be surrounded by biotechs and big universities. But my point is that there is a real interest among scientists. Even people working everyday in a synthetic biology lab come here, they're eager to help democratize these technologies and more generally to 'have fun' with it, to escape the requirements of preparing projects month in advance, and simply start tinkering around with some random ideas they have.

I bet you can find that for your team, good luck!

Raphael