BiohaX - DIYbio video series and kickstarter?

[QDragon Leet]

Hello, as some of you may know i recently joined the group and am completely new to this. However finding this community has given me inspiration for a big summer project. I've been making videos on youtube about 4 years, currently i write and edit a science news show called Brainstorm every monday and friday. This summer i would like to start another series called BiohaX. Essentially myself and my friends delving into the world of biohacking. Some episodes would be concise tutorials of standard experiments, hopefully the occasional interview, and updates on original research i'd eventually like to start.

So i'd like 4 bits of input from you guys.

1. do you think it's a good idea? anything i'm missing?

2. how much would it cost? i'm wanting to fund this through Kickstarter and setup a decent lab in my home. would you help fund it?

3. is anybody interested in volunteering? mainly research and advisory positions

4. anybody more in charge of DIYbio interested in officially promoting the project?

I'm extremely passionate about this idea, and hope it could become a real community effort. looking forward to your comments.

Q

[Alex Hoekstra]

I'm definitely interested in helping you develop this idea.  Frankly, I think that the coverage DIYBio gets from the mainstream media is shallow and skewed.  Having a little more media from "the inside", so to speak, would be great, not only for bringing the community together, but for letting ourselves become more visible and clear to the public at large.

I'm interested in the format you have in mind for the show.  I've watched a few episodes of Brainstorm and I like what you're up to now, but I'm wondering if you have something different planned for the BioHaX project?

While I'm all for the idea of you setting up your own lab and documenting experiments you do personally and with your friends, I wonder if you'd also be willing and able to document some of the work being done elsewhere throughout DIYBio.  That's a somewhat daunting task, given our being scattered across the globe, but interviews with active independent scientists would be great.

As for stuff to include in the show, I think it might break down into two general categories:

1. Practical Stuff: tutorials, experimental updates, links and resources relevant to DIYBio
2. Conceptual Stuff: insights, commentary and news both from within the community, as well as anything that would be relevant to DIYBio.

 Again, I'm really digging this idea and I'm glad to hear you're passionate about it.  I'd like to help!

Oh, I also think Kickstarter would be a fabulous way to get it funded and to spread the word, but before considering putting together a project pitch, we should hash out a lot of details.  =)

All the best!

Alex

[Avery louie]

Alex makes a good point.

I think it would be more worthwhile to get funding to move A/V equipment to other labs and document what is actually happening.  It would be nice on our end publicity and sharing wise, and helpful on your end since you are just starting- it is hard to get things to work if you have no experience at all.  I know firsthand, because that is how I started out.

Feedback wise, I will be blunt and tell you that I am not a fan of throwing money at inexperienced people to start a lab.  I know what it is like to want to get started- trust me, I was there.  But it costs a lot to build a lab, and I can't really get behind buying a lab for a few people with no experience to do some very vague R&D and filmography.  If you were going to open a community space and had a community ready to move in, or if you had some lab experience, I might be able to get behind that.

That said, if you are really excited about this, I can help you figure out how to do basic experiments, or even hard things.  If you can document those more and build up some cred, it might help you with your kickstarter.

Good luck,

Avery

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[QDragon Leet]

@Avery i understand your concern about the kickstarter, still your technical knowledge is greatly appreciated if you're wanting to contact me directly so we could discuss things 

[Alex Hoekstra]

Avery makes a good point, too.  I think a Kickstarter campaign designed around the notion of producing a DIYBio community video series (maybe part documentary, part news, part instructional) would stand a much better chance at success than would funding designated for a new garage lab setup.  I hope you take Avery up on the offer for some guidance on getting started, because I do think that having a little lab of your own would make the BioHaX series much more robust (you'd be able to demonstrate what experiments can be done with what equipment [and of course what safety protocols are called for]).

Again, I'm with you on this one and I hope you're only getting more excited about taking this on.  I'd be pleased and honored to help so don't hesitate to get in touch.

[QDragon Leet]

Well it is about the series but the main reason the funding is needed is for the my lab. I certainly want community involvement but if my audience (however small) is chipping in they'll likely want to see videos from me. Definitely if other hackers post video responses or something i could feature their experiments in a community segment. Still i've got quite a few ideas myself and my main goal is to introduce new people to biohacking, and i think by essentially learning just ahead of what i show the audience could make the information more digestible.

Again nothing is set in stone those are just my feelings about it.

[Alex Hoekstra]

I know where you're coming from, and I agree - you'll need a lab of your own, even if a modest one, in order to produce your own original content for the show.  I do think that if crowdsourcing is going to be your primary means of getting funding for that lab, the focus of the project's pitch should be on the production of the show (the lab being a necessary prop for the larger project of the show itself).

How about starting an Initiatr page for the project?  Initiatr is a pretty good platform for collaborative development on a project like this, especially when contributions might come from all over the world.  The project page could be used for brainstorming too, but might be even more useful in getting input from people with other skills.  =)  Since this is your baby, you should be the one to start the project (http://www.initiatr.com/), but once you do, I'll happily join/support and hopefully keep things moving.

[QDragon Leet]

i'm starting up the initiatr thing, but my hope is to announce the kickstarter some time next week.

I'd still really like some estimate of cost, just a lowball estimate for the minimum of the funding. (you don't get money unless you reach your goal, but you can go over it) so like 1k, 2k? i just need something 

[Avery louie]

Qdragon,

I am not sure if you are ready to start a lab if you:

a) cannot or will not do research into the equipment you need.

b) don't have any idea what equipment you need.

c) don't seem to have serious plans for what you want to do.

I would suggest doing research and figuring out how much things cost before you ask for " 1k, 2k", or a "lowball estimate for the minimum of the funding".  Maybe you should look around and find somewhere to learn some biology, before you try to have people buy you a lab.

--A

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[QDragon Leet]

that's why i'm asking here, because you know. I've been very busy the last week and i plan on starting research soon. I've got a good 3-4 weeks before an episode might go up, but i need to start fundraising as soon as possible. which is why i'm trying to get help with an estimate.

I want to do the the glowing e.coli hack for sure, and what other beginner procedures should i do and roughly how much will it cost?

i'd also like to attempt modifying yeast and algae, again same questions.

I will do the research and price everything out but if i wait til i'm done that there'll be no time to actually raise the money. You guys are the experts which is why i need your input, to get the series started.

[Fernando Lindenberg]

I dont know about the costs, but you can it look up.

1. There is a kit for glowing bacteria that is used in molecular biology classes (I think it comes with plamids and petri dishes)
2. A water bath, a 37°C  shaker
3. Pipette and tips
4. Reagents for LB medium
5. Antibiotics
6. Autoclave
7. Scale
8. Bacteria!

I think these are the basic equipments. Some of these equipments are expensive, maybe there are home made ones, I am not sure.

If I were you I would try to build my own project, check out iGEM projects!


Later!

[Nathan McCorkle]

http://openwetware.org/wiki/DIYbio/FAQ#What_equipment_do_I_need_to_perform_DIYBio-related_projects.3F

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[Nathan McCorkle]

http://openwetware.org/wiki/DIYbio/FAQ/Kits

[QDragon Leet]

thanks for these, it's a good start and i'll be researching more actively tomorrow 

sorry all if i came off as dickish in my last post

[QDragon Leet]

so i've started my list, i'll be adding more later but i think i've got the glassware covered 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlRCiEBbcYRjdFJQTFJsQ21QNWhZMTlDZkY2R25oeVE

what do you think? missing anything for that category?

the wiki recommends a europe based supplier but is there a north american alternative? i'd like to reduce shipping costs

also the wiki recommended a pressure cooker for certain sterilization procedures, but would an oven/dishwasher (with sterilization cycle) work?

[Bryan Bishop]

On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 10:06 PM, QDragon Leet <dr.qd...@gmail.com> wrote:

what do you think? missing anything for that category?

http://diyhpl.us/cgit/skdb/plain/doc/BOMs/diybio-equipment.yaml

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[Cathal Garvey]

Short answer: no. Get a pressure cooker. You can't oven broth media to sterilise. You certainly can't sterilise it in a dishwasher. The only reliable ways are tyndallising, which takes three days, careful and extended microwaving, which causes a huge mess if done incorrectly and only works for small volumes, and pressure cooking, which works well generally and reliably for most volumes.

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[QDragon Leet]

@Cathal ok just thought i'd check. thanks for the input 

[David Murphy]

TIL: that even boiling for hours at 100 degrees centigrade can't kill the spores from some bacteria.
learn something new every day.

I knew there were a few extremophiles but I never realised that there were bacteria which could survive boiling water for an extended period of time.

On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 3:33 PM, QDragon Leet <dr.qd...@gmail.com> wrote:

@Cathal ok just thought i'd check. thanks for the input 

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[Nathan McCorkle]

On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 11:34 AM, David Murphy <murphy...@gmail.com> wrote:
> TIL: that even boiling for hours at 100 degrees centigrade can't kill the
> spores from some bacteria.
> learn something new every day.
>
> I knew there were a few extremophiles but I never realised that there were
> bacteria which could survive boiling water for an extended period of time.

As Cathal said, that's what Tyndallization is for
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndallization

[Cathal Garvey]

..or Pressure Cooking, of course.

Even b.subtilis will survive boiling, although lab strains make crappy spores, and I've had some die after only ~80C incubation.

Fungal and bacterial spores that can survive boiling or insufficient pressure cooking are very common. Expect anything simply boiled to get contaminated, although it may take a little while for spores to germinate, so all may seem well at first..

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[QDragon Leet]

none of the links list any common reagents, anything i should definitely order?

also the wiki says to get a HEPA air purifier but doesn't give any suggestions on specifications or setup, i'm not working in a very big place so any thoughts?

also i really need more relatively beginner experiment ideas, anything well documented with yeast or algae?

i've got the glowing e. coli kit on the list, but i was hoping to add a little something extra, is it possible to get additional florescent protein plasmids in other colors?

thanks 

[QDragon Leet]

sorry 1 more thing, what's a good way to jury rig an incubator?

here's my list again https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlRCiEBbcYRjdFJQTFJsQ21QNWhZMTlDZkY2R25oeVE#gid=0

[Cory Tobin]

> sorry 1 more thing, what's a good way to jury rig an incubator?

Here's one from hack-a-day
http://hackaday.com/2010/04/21/egg-incubation-chamber/ It's pretty
simple, just an ATtiny microcontroller that reads the temperature from
one of these http://www.sparkfun.com/products/245 digital thermometers
and controls a relay to power two 60W light bulbs. That's good enough
to maintain 37C.

If you a schematic for the control circuit, let me know and I'll scan
in the drawings I have for my own incubator.

-cory

[Nathan McCorkle]

U.S.-based retailer:
http://www.sciplus.com/category.cfm/subsection/4

also check ebay.

you don't need a $400 camera for visualizing glowing colonies, a cell
phone camera or better works fine

the best HEPA environment is in a laminar flow hood, where the stuff
inside is protected from you, and you're protected from the stuff
inside. The next best thing is a positive pressure box, which can
range from an open faced box where a vertical side is open and the
opposite side is composed of a HEPA filter (24 inch * 24 inch at
least) with a squirrel cage fan pushing air through. The last
box/enclosure option is pretty clunky and a pain to use, its a
still-air glove box, made of a wal-mart type clear plastic storage bin
with arm holes cut in the side, this presents a real problem
transferring things from outside to the inside.

you could also try the build in the attached PDF

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[David Murphy]

A little off topic but how long does it take to use directed evolution to create extremophiles?

for example if you were to set up some broth with ecoli or similar and heat to the point where 99.9% of the bacteria die.... then culture then heat again.

and so on for a few thousand generations.

or do a similar thing with spores, use pressure cookers on low to select for the most resistant spores generation after generation.

are there any really hard limits or could someone create a headache for biologists everywhere by breeding organisms which can't be killed in a simple pressure cooker.

[QDragon Leet]

ok i recorded the video today with my friends and asked for $1500. hopefully that'll cover this budget i linked and additional expenses, shipping, taxes, other things etc.

now my plan is to have the video and kickstarter up for friday, but the actual series premier is weeks away so keep the ideas coming.

[QDragon Leet]

IT'S UP check it out!  http://www.indiegogo.com/biohax?a=654555