DIY Bio

Do It Yourself Biology will be a part of Citizen Science. While it still takes some expertise to do biological experiments, it is becoming much easier to buy and use the equipment needed, as well as access the building blocks. There are an increasing number of sources for some very interesting approaches.

Synthetic Biology is a real approach to create defined biological systems. Ginkgo BioWorks was started by some young researchers interested in Open Science approaches. They are working with New England Biolabs to distribute, BioBricks, pre-made segments of DNA that can be put together in standardized fashions.

These BioBricks are found in the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. And the work is supported by a Foundation. So, an interested amateur can get the parts to make their own bioengineering project.

There is a yearly contest and exposition describing novel engineering approaches.While currently limited to undergraduate teams from accredited institutions, they are examining "a new way for "non-traditional" teams to participate in iGEM."

And we can also purchase equipment that was not only quite expensive not long ago, but could only be found in research labs.. For instance, an open design gel electrophoresis apparatus, for separating and visualizing DNA strands, is available for a few hundred dollars.

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