Where in the world to learn practical diybio?

[Jarrad]

Hello,

I have recently becoming extremely fascinated with the idea of synthetic biology, and the ability for the amateur to start working on this.

Is there any practical courses or any hackerspaces with some people willing to teach?

I'd love to travel and spend some time there.

Cheers,

Jarrad

[Avery louie]

What is your location?  I am offering intro classes at bosslab this summer, in boston.

--A

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[Derek]

I'm doing some classes here in Victoria, British Columbia as well. I know BioCurious in Sunnyvale, California and Genspace in NYC are also good bets.

--Derek

On Wednesday, 2 May 2012 12:59:02 UTC-7, Avery wrote:

What is your location?  I am offering intro classes at bosslab this summer, in boston.

--A

On May 2, 2012 3:10 PM, "Jarrad" <m...@jarradhope.com> wrote:

Hello,

I have recently becoming extremely fascinated with the idea of synthetic biology, and the ability for the amateur to start working on this.

Is there any practical courses or any hackerspaces with some people willing to teach?

I'd love to travel and spend some time there.

Cheers,

Jarrad

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[shawn przybilla]

Also in this boat. I am out of NYC and the classes offered at genspace are just too expensive! Are there more affordable options or should I just save my pennies?

[shawn przybilla]

Also in this boat. I am out of NYC and the $300 pricetag for classes at genspace are a bit scary for a novice. Are there any other options for us noobs?

On Wednesday, May 2, 2012 3:06:54 PM UTC-4, Jarrad wrote:

[Günther Mulder]

Good point. There is a list of DIYBio Spaces on http://diybio.org/local/ Does anybody know if it's comprehensive?

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 2:12 AM, shawn przybilla
<shawn.p...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Also in this boat. I am out of NYC and the $300 pricetag for classes at
> genspace are a bit scary for a novice. Are there any other options for us
> noobs?
>

Does genspace have a hangout night? Reagents and disposables for doing
something like a GFP transformation, should be $15-$45 USD... if you
start hanging out there you'll most likely absorb a ton of knowledge
just through osmosis.

--
Nathan McCorkle
Rochester Institute of Technology
College of Science, Biotechnology/Bioinformatics

[shawn przybilla]

It looks like they had a pizza night once in 2011, but other than that I don't see any open house. I would LOVE to get in just to hang out. Perhaps I'll shoot them an email and see what they can offer.

On Thursday, May 3, 2012 12:12:44 PM UTC-4, Nathan McCorkle wrote:

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 2:12 AM, shawn przybilla

[Avery louie]

I recently talked to ellen, who runs genspace.  they have pizza & pcr night about once a months as a hangout night.

I am not sure what they do in their class, but it is probably cheaper than doing it alone.  I know for the class I intend to teach, the durable equiptment alone that we will use costs in the 1000s if you add it up, not to mentioned consumables for the class.  And it is always cheaper to do stuff once, with someone who knows what they are doing than to have to figure it out for yourself.  Both of the people ehow run genspace are phds abdul have lots of experience.

--A

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[ruphos]

Reagents are often cheap, but the equipment and, more importantly, the space are not. The class fees are not so much for making a profit, but rather to keep things going.

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"And if ye cannot be saints of knowledge, then be at least its warriors."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 1:03 PM, ruphos <apokr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Reagents are often cheap, but the equipment and, more importantly, the space
> are not. The class fees are not so much for making a profit, but rather to
> keep things going.
>

I agree with space costs, but equipment can be had relatively cheap
for very basic intro stuff. I'm not sure if the genspace has a
membership fee, and if that covers space costs or not.

In my hometown, a community college credits are about $70, so a 4
credit 16 week class should be about $300, maybe a little more if
there are lab fees and taxes. If you want the most bang for your buck
(dollar), I suggest getting into a molecular bio course with a lab (or
similar) at a community college.

[Avery louie]

I agree that can be a good option if you are willing to sign up for a 16 week course, but I still think that classes offered at DIY spaces are a better value for most people.

-They are offered at times where working professionals/people who cannot take a 16 week course can take them

-They emphasize labwork as opposed to lecture

And at BOSSLAB at least, the cost is equipment and consumables.  Not all the spaces offering these classes are genespace or biocurious; BOSSLAB really needs funding for things like an automatic sterilizer, pipette tips, and the like- there are no membership dues.

--Avery

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[Nathan McCorkle]

CUNY - NYC
$165/credit PT-Time NY Resident
$260/credit PT-Time Out-Of-State Resident

$50/semester Technology Fee
$15/semester Consolidated Service Fee

Most courses are 3 or 4 credits, but you get a combined 6 hours of lab
and lecture each week

For $725-1105 (in state, out of state), you get access to equipment,
consumables, library access for journal articles and books, and the
chance to hear about research and professors that you might be
interested in (that you might not otherwise come across)

Facilities/Equipment list
http://www.cuny.edu/research/faculty-resources/core-facilities.html

So 4 hours at genspace (a relaxed environment relative to a college
setting I think) in evening for $300, $75/hour

6 hours/week * 16 weeks / $725 = $7.55/hour, for out-of-state its $11.51/hour

96 hours vs 4 hours is are very different commitments/endeavors, but
you do have a choice. Also genspace isn't in the certification
business, so they probably won't mind holding your hand a bit if you
don't meet the pre-requisite knowledge requirements like 1 year gen
bio and chem, or whatever colleges require... (I could definitely have
handled most of my biotech major courses with no pre-reqs)



These all look pretty good, if you don't have the $$ I'd try to audit
them or find the room number and lecture times and just sneak in.

http://student.cuny.edu/cgi-bin/CourseCatalog/CCatEvaluate.pl?DB=ORACLE&STYLE=NEW&COMPLETE=1&CALLEDBY=CGEVALUATE&CGCOLLEGE=02&CGPREFIX=BIO&CGNUMBER=3035

http://student.cuny.edu/cgi-bin/CourseCatalog/CCatEvaluate.pl?DB=ORACLE&STYLE=NEW&COMPLETE=1&CALLEDBY=CGEVALUATE&CGCOLLEGE=19&CGPREFIX=BIO&CGNUMBER=472

http://student.cuny.edu/cgi-bin/CourseCatalog/CCatEvaluate.pl?DB=ORACLE&STYLE=NEW&COMPLETE=1&CALLEDBY=CGEVALUATE&CGCOLLEGE=01&CGPREFIX=SCI&CGNUMBER=28000

http://student.cuny.edu/cgi-bin/CourseCatalog/CCatEvaluate.pl?DB=ORACLE&STYLE=NEW&COMPLETE=1&CALLEDBY=CGEVALUATE&CGCOLLEGE=11&CGPREFIX=BIO&CGNUMBER=05700

[Jarrad]

That Genspace intro to synth bio course looks pretty good, maybe short/sweet enough to see if i'd like to pursue it further.