[hacklabs-fi] Re: Hackerspace for biotech: Fwd: Re: [hackerspaces] Genspace opening hits Wired
- From: Antti Ahonen <aahonen@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: hacklabs-fi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:01:44 +0200
Biohakkeroinnista kiinnostuneille tiedoksi, pikseliähky festivaali
tarjoaa ensivuonna yhteistyössä suomen biotaideyhdityksen kanssa
aiheeseen liittyvän työpajan. Teemana on
- Bioelectronix for Artists
ja pitäjinä on Andy Gracie & Marc Dusseiller ( http://hackteria.org/ )
Seurailin itse poikien työpajanpitoa ISEA festivaalilla tänävuonna ja
täytyy sanoa että toiminta vaikutti kyllä tosi pätevältä.
Työpajoista tulee lisäinfoa varmaan piakkoin osoitteeseen pixelache.ac
, kunhan ehtivät päivittää.
On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 9:52 AM, Elmo <elmo.mantynen@xxxxxx> wrote:
> Been a little quite so decided to forward this.
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [hackerspaces] Genspace opening hits Wired
> Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:15:57 -0600
> From: Bryan Bishop <kanzure@xxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: Hackerspaces General Discussion List
> <discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: diybio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, wta-talk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
> discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, diybio-nyc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Bryan
> Bishop <kanzure@xxxxxxxxx>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 5:46 PM, Ellen Jorgensen wrote:
>
>
> http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/genspace-diy-science-laboratory/
>
>
> DIY Biotech Hacker Space Opens in NYC
> http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/genspace-diy-science-laboratory/
>
> """
> NEW YORK — On the top floor of an old bank converted into an artist
> collective, just past prop design for Bjork’s next music video, the
> do-it-yourself biotechnology revolution has begun.
>
> A cadre of science entrepreneurs recently opened Genspace, the world’s
> first government-compliant community biotech laboratory. The
> bedroom-sized facility was two years in the making and, for a
> $100-per-month membership, anyone can use the space for whatever
> experiments they dream up.
>
> “If you work in a university lab, you have to do what your adviser tells
> you to do,” said Genspace co-founder Dan Gruskhkin, a freelance
> journalist and self-described science enthusiast. “Here, you work under
> mentors and can do things you’re interested in immediately.”
>
> The small space is made of found parts. A sliding patio door, Plexiglas
> panels and old wire screens enclose the lab, and stainless steel
> restaurant tables serve as lab benches.
>
> The lab’s glassware, micropipettes, centrifuges, electrophoresis
> machines, incubators, microscopes and other scientific equipment were
> donated. Genspace president and co-founder Ellen Jorgensen, a biomedical
> researcher at New York Medical College, used to work for Vector Research
> Ltd. and got the company to donate the gear after they shut down a facility.
>
> The lab may be cobbled together, but biosafety officers approved it as
> compliant with the Center for Disease Control’s biosafety level 1
> regulations. That’s a big difference between Genspace and D.I.Y. labs
> crammed into closets and garages across the country, says Jorgensen, and
> a big advantage.
>
> “Most biological experiments are not one-offs. They’re continuous
> processes that last more than one day,” Jorgensen said. Before
> Genspace’s lab was built, she, Grushkin and two other founders set up
> labs in their living rooms using plastic tarps. After each experiment,
> however, they had to be torn down, decontaminated and thrown away.
>
> “Now we have a secure lab space where we can do quality,
> professional-level science,” Jorgensen said.
>
> Out of concerns for bioterrorism and illegal drug production, the FBI
> and New York Police Department were initially alarmed by the idea of a
> public biotech lab in they city. But Grushkin says a lot of sit-down
> meetings with the agencies have convinced them.
>
> “The FBI now uses pictures of our space to show people what a
> [methamphetamine] drug lab doesn’t look like,” Grushkin said. One of
> their FBI contacts even showed up at the space’s grand opening last week
> to congratulate Grushkin.
>
> Genspace’s seven current lab members already have projects underway,
> including a biofuel algae experiment and a bacteria-powered arsenic
> detection kit. Grushkin plans to create transgenic, multi-colored
> microganisms that will “race” across a growth plate, primarily for fun
> but also for educational purposes. Jorgensen wants to use the new space
> to support personal genetic testing.
>
> “I like the idea of a community lab where somebody can go to test
> themselves for a gene that may predispose them to a disease,” Jorgensen
> said. “I think people have a right to get their DNA without involving a
> doctor.”
>
> Grushkin says another purpose of Genspace, now under review for
> non-profit status, is to help inner city schools bolster their science
> curricula.
>
> “We’re working with students from Hofstra University on Long Island to
> get their twelve-dollar digital microscope into classrooms,” Grushkin
> said. The microscope can blow objects up to 170x magnification and
> stream a video feed to the Web. Similar devices typically cost hundreds
> of dollars, Grushkin says.
>
> Genspace also has programs designed to bring science to the public.
> Literally, in some cases.
>
> “One thing we did was extract DNA from strawberries in a public park,”
> Grushkin said. “You should have heard some of the things people said,
> like, ‘Ew, DNA is gross!’”
>
> Such educational stunts provide a premium opportunity to start
> life-changing conversations about science, Jorgensen says, and empower
> people with knowledge.
>
> Genspace opened their doors on Dec. 10, and Wired.com was in attendance.
> Peek inside of the D.I.Y. lab here.
>
> Images: A biofuel algae experiment. Credit: Dave Mosher/Wired.com
> """
>
> - Bryan
> http://heybryan.org/
> 1 512 203 0507
>
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hacklabs Finland mailing list. Unsubscribe or change settings at:
//www.freelists.org/list/hacklabs-fi
Other related posts:
