Re: [DIYbio] Remote design and execution of diy bio experiments

1a. Cost vs. Demand: There is not enough demand to make an automated lab profitable if it is serving DIY folks. You might be able to work if you cater to some specific part of the biotech space.

1b. Regulation. Making and distributing biological materials is fraught with regulatory issues. For example: what do you do if someone asks you to make anthrax?

2. Knowledge - the subject is deep, complex, and subtle. Understanding what can and cannot be done often takes me longer than doing an experiment. Such is research, I suppose.

3. I like working in the lab. Part of the reason biology is cool is because I get to move away from my computer.

4. I've had plenty of labs tell me that they can't ship to me because I am not affiliated with a lab. In these circumstances, I've had the local biohackerspace order it for me.

5. GFP transfection in e. coli. This is the standard "Hello world" of synthetic biology.

6. Maybe a few hundred dollars.

Andrey, feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions.

Peter

On Sat, May 30, 2020, 02:03 Andrey Samokhvalov <andre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey, all!

I am thinking about bio cloud laboratory[1] targeted on the do-it-yourself bio community, a bit naive, but anyway I am curious what you think about it.
I would appreciate it if you share with me your concerns.

Also, I have prepared some questions, which might help me orient the idea in a proper direction. Pick one if you have a good mood :)

1. What is the biggest risk why it will not work from your point of view?
2. What is the biggest frustration/problem you have in DIY bio? Why it is a problem?
3. Is hands-on experience is essential for you, or you are more motivated by seeing the end result?
4. Have you been in a situation when you didn't have the required equipment/reagents and weren't able to buy it? Which one?
5. What were the first one/two experiments you did?
6. (optional) How much do you spend on DIY per year? Sorry for such a personal question, I am asking because such a project might require heavy investments, and I somehow need to calculate the market and stuff.

[1] Biology cloud laboratory - is an automated physical laboratory, which has access to it over the browser user interface, where you could design and execute the biological experiment remotely, and receive/see a resulting data over user interface or ask for resulting material to be shipped to your home. Examples include Emerald Cloud Lab, Transcriptic, and others, but as far as I am aware they are targeted on the pharmaceutical market. I tried to get access to their user interface, but they haven't replied : (

Thank you, and have a good day/night!

P.S. I am literally the first day here, so my apology if that was already discussed, or I violated some community rule.

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