Re: [DIYbio] EU DIYBio beyond hope, hype and horror - revisited

I apologize upfront about the provocative language below ...

Unfortunately, some of the diybio is driven more by hype than any expectation of reality. 

It is a derivative of the philosophers dilemma - your confidence in achieving something is inversely proportional to your knowledge about the subject (aka the less you know the more cocky you are). That is why many enter the DIYbio community with great excitement but then lose steam when they cannot make the rapid progress they expected. Bio, DIY- or otherwise, is a grind. It's that last 20% that takes 80% of the effort.

The challenge to expanding the DIY community is to keep the excitement going but tie them to projects that have a defined end that can be achieved in a reasonable period of time. One example, developing assays to survey antibiotics in our bodies through urine or saliva, involving a global community to do the tests on themselves and creating a google map with the incidence of antibiotics in our bodies.

On Sat, Mar 18, 2017 at 8:19 AM, Pieter <pieterva...@gmail.com> wrote:

Do you remember the article "European do-it-yourself (DIY) biology: beyond hope, hype and horror" from early 2014? http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bies.201300149/full

"We found that all groups are driven by a core leadership of (semi-)professional people who struggle with finding lab space and equipment. Regulations on genetic modification limit what groups can do. Differences between Europe and the US are found in the distinct regulatory environments and the European emphasis on bio-art. We conclude that DIYBio Europe has so far been a responsible and transparent citizen science movement with a solid user base that will continue to grow irrespective of media attention."

For the next episode of the #OPENBIOTECH youtube series I met with co-author Günter Seyfried to discuss the most remarkable differences between now and the situation some years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCVbF0ZxMC0

The conclusion that DIYBio is here to stay still holds, and it is interesting to analyse what has changed. At the time Cathal was the only with a GMO permit for his lab, now there are more but not many. The groups have developed into several different directions, resembling hacker spaces, co-working spaces or are part of larger institutions. The movement has functioned as a test-bed for startups. Collaborations with companies have also occurred (f.e. BiologiGaragen - Novozymes, La Paillasse - Roche).

Günter and I also discussed the influence of governmental support in the growth of DIYBio activities. To what extend has that made a difference?

In the same vlog you can also see a meetup with two Belgium biohackers in Brussels, with their own opinions and expectations.

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