Take this technology to parts of world where they get mail (e.g. equipment and supplies); and have electricity (to power the doo-dads); and lax regulations with a less puritanical approach to DNA. A team of kids in Mumbai could hack their way into the next technological revolution: desktop genetic engineering. People could literally cook their own critters. The parable from mainframes to desktops could be repeated for genetic engineering: from lab coats to t-shirts.As the tools of biotechnology become accessible (and affordable) to a wider public for the first time, hobbyists are recapturing that collaborative ethos and applying it to tinkering with the building blocks of life.
Eugene Thacker is a professor of literature, culture and communications at Georgia Tech and a member of the Biotech Hobbyist collective. Just as the computer hobbyists sought unconventional applications for computer circuitry, the new collective is looking for "non-prescribed uses" of biotechnology, Thacker said.
The group has published a set of informal DIY articles, mimicking the form of the newsletters and magazines of the computer hobbyists -- many of which are archived online. Thacker walks readers through the steps of performing a basic computation using a DNA "computer" in his article "Personal Biocomputing" (PDF). The tools for the project include a $100 high school-science education kit and some used lab equipment.
Other how-to articles guide readers through cultivating skin cells and "Tree Cloning" -- making uniform copies of plant tissue.
Thacker calls the spirit of his article "playful," but adds that it's entirely possible that hobbyists could be part of the future of important biotechnology.
Gene hackers could publish the how-tos for free and then get a piece of the hardware pie. Maybe they could publish the information on line and use a Google affiliate program to get the cash. I'm sure gene splicing equipment manufacturers out there don't have affiliate programs... yet.
