DIY lab in India

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Naresh Rambabu

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Oct 14, 2015, 8:06:20 AM10/14/15
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Hello fellow researchers,
                                     I could like to introduce myself as Naresh Rambabu, I am a graduate student from ESPCI. I am in an idea to initiate a DIY lab in India. Since I am new to initiating a DIY lab in my locality. I am looking forward for you suggestions and comments that I should keep in mind for establishing a DIY lab in India.


Cheers
Naresh

Thomas Landrain

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Oct 14, 2015, 8:21:41 AM10/14/15
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Hi Naresh,

Are you studying in ESPCI in Paris? If the case you could come see us in La Paillasse. We are working on establishing a network of community labs for open science, we'd love to help you start something in India. 
Cheers
Thomas 
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Nathan McCorkle

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Oct 14, 2015, 2:12:13 PM10/14/15
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Where in India would you like to establish such a place? Have you
chatted with HillHacks? (check their website at hillhacks.in) They
should be able to give you more info on the hackerspace establishment
and dynamics in India in general, but probably not too much on
biohacking. I think there is also something established in Bangalore,
but maybe I simply am misremembering an enthusiastic self-motivated
person who was also working /from/ Bangalore (not sure if they ever
established a space).
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Ujjwal Thaakar

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Oct 15, 2015, 5:54:11 AM10/15/15
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Hi Naresh,
I have been wanting to establish a space in India since January now but have not been able to follow up on it. I think we're still a little far away from establishing a self sustaining lab because awareness of DIYBio is extremely poor in our country. We first need to conduct some workshops and spread awareness till we reach a point where there would be enough people interested in space. While Bangalore seems to have a lot of biohackers, most work in propagating SynBio is taking place in New Delhi. The Department of Biotechnology is particularly interested in spreading awareness and JNU is planning to open a dedicated department in the coming years. Where are you right now. Maybe we could have a chat over Skype.

Ankit Chaturvedi

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Oct 15, 2015, 7:26:23 AM10/15/15
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Hi Naresh,

Although I'm a beginner in this domain, I'd surely love to help you in getting this started. I'm in Bangalore and know of a few people who have had similar ideas in the past but it never went anywhere. As Nathan mentioned, hillhacks would have good info on how to go about setting up a hackerspace. Another avenue to explore would be something similar to Workbench projects, although a lot of legwork would need to be done to get the proper equipment and tools. Perhaps a good start would be to compile to a list of equipment and allocate budget, a few starter projects, and as Ujjwal suggested creating awareness through workshops/talks/conferences. Cost of equipment would be prohibitive in India, I feel various BioTech depts at Unis could be approached for time-share/collaborative opportunities. Another approach could be to build the necessary hardware which is something I've been exploring the past few months - I'm building a Dremelfuge based on Cathal Garvey's design here, with some mods: http://diybio.org/2012/06/11/dremelfuge-classic/ . This could be an interesting approach - I personally know several hardware hackers who'd love get involved and improve and improvise the designs. Let's get a discussion going around this, I'm more than willing to put in time and effort to start this!

Hi Nathan,

Would you happen to remember any specifics on what you mentioned? I'd surely be interested to connect with biohackers in/around Bangalore! Feel free to email me if you don't wish to share personal info on mailing list.


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Ujjwal Thaakar

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Oct 15, 2015, 7:31:01 AM10/15/15
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Hi Ankit,
That's nice to know. We have a team here in Delhi which is also working on hardware. Let's have a chat about it.
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Thanks
Ujjwal

Marc Dusseiller

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Oct 15, 2015, 10:13:21 PM10/15/15
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hoi zäme,

nice to see more connections starting inside the indian sub-continent. in fact i think there is already 100s of interesting activities going on there. just they seem to be not on this list. there is a not-so-active facebook group for biohackers in blr.

i personally have only been involved in the scene in bangalore, the art(sci) BLR hosted at the srishti school, and strong collaborations with NCBS. who is also very interested in such citizen science and low-cost equipment initiatives.
since the foundation of hackteria we have been very active in india, yashas shetty the co-founder spent years of doing workshops, building low-cost equipment and doing poetic works at the art/sci interface presented at iGEM 2009-2012. 
meanwhile we are more other interested in interdisciplinary education projects around citizen science:

we hosted a hackteriaLab in blr in 2013:

some of my friends started this in 2013.. but it changed a bit recently

during an earlier workshop in collaboration with jaaga here:
they now have a hacker-farm, bridging ecology/sustainability and the hardware/start-up scene

Talking about centrifuges, i keep telling my definition of a centrifuge: "it's primarily a strong heavy box" just to make sure that stuff doesnt fly around in you lab...
i am still scared to look at these images from our students in bangalore:

we put together a large range of basic DIY crafted lab prototypes here, also check our recent Hard-disc centrifuge:

greetings from taipei!

m

Naresh Rambabu

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Jan 12, 2016, 8:17:55 AM1/12/16
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I would like to apologize to all for my late reply. I just got carried away with my survey in the schools with teachers and parents in my locality concerning the DIY lab.

@Thomas Landrain: No Thomas I left Paris. I knew about your community, I was in paris_betten court iGEM team.

@Nathan: Thank you so much. I am in Chennai. I will contact the Hill hack team.

@Ujjwal: my skype Id is nareshibt, you could whats app me in this number +33781343306

@Ankit: Thats is an impressive design you got.

@Marc: that you for the comment that was very informative. 


Guys I went to several schools and spoke with teachers, kids & parents to see what they feel about the concept of DIY. This is what I got


1) The concept of DIY is intersting and childrens like it a lot. Many kids shared their experience in visitng exhibitions conducted in schools.

2) The parents mostly mothers would like to involve them self in citizen science projects.

3) People are mostly interested in working on projects that has real time application and help them in day-to-day life. 

Just to have an assessment on what ppl feel. I explained about home made mosquito trap using yeast (this may be a poor example), the Foldscope DIY project and MOOC.

The parents are more interested in the mosquito trap design. The kids are attracted towards the Foldscope and the teachers are interested in MOOC.


But I could clearly feel the constraints in establishing the bio-hackspace (financial and ethical issues hindering it).


I am also planning to meet few professors in VIT university to see if they are interested in sharing the lab space and resource.


In my opinion combining Art with science sounds like a feasible way to reach to people and school children's. What do you guys think about it?


Cheers
Naresh

Reshma Bhatnagar

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Jan 13, 2016, 4:53:52 AM1/13/16
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On Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 5:36:20 PM UTC+5:30, Naresh Rambabu wrote:

Hi Naresh,

Started one last year in Navi Mumbai. Still a bit low key but doing ok so far. Have approached some academics and alumni from the Institute of Chemical Technology as well. If you'd like to join up with us (or create an inter-city collaboration) I'm game. Our web address is http://sarbilabs.in

Best,
Reshma

Reshma Bhatnagar

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Jan 13, 2016, 4:58:42 AM1/13/16
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Hi Thomas,

We have recently set up a DIY lab in Navi Mumbai, attached to a conventional lab but haven't really thought of an international network of community labs for open science. I would love to join in any such network as well. Our web address, if you are interested, is http://sarbilabs.com

Best,
Reshma

Reshma Bhatnagar

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Jan 13, 2016, 5:15:06 AM1/13/16
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Hi Ujjwal,

I think the DIY ethic has been increasing quite quickly around here. We have had quite a few inquiries, though we had of course done (and are still doing) the workshop-seminar-exhibition circuit. Not as many takers in pure synthetic biology as in interdisciplinary work: sensors and the like, ideally linked to electronics. But this may be a Mumbai thing. If you do set up are become part of a lab in Delhi, I'd love to collaborate. Our web address is http://sarbilbas.in.

FYI we started nearly a year ago and are a multidisciplinary lab: we also have chemists (material scientists) and electronics people working on projects, besides the bioctech/molecular bio etc. I think, in India, the DIY ethic is more noticeable in engineers, especially from the traditional disciplines, rather than pure scientists and biologists because of the horrible way our degrees, especially in the latter fields are structured, what with the lack of emphasis on critical thinking. You'll probably have to branch out into areas other than bio to attract people to the lab. The biologists will follow!

Do get in touch if interested.

Regards,
Reshma

Ujjwal Thaakar

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Jan 13, 2016, 5:29:11 AM1/13/16
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I'm coming to Mumbai at the end of January. Will drop by.

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Thanks
Ujjwal

Naresh

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Jan 13, 2016, 5:46:50 AM1/13/16
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Hey Reshma,
We could collaborate for sure. Right now I am
looking for work space. I am planing to join the initiatives in
Bangalore. Once I have things setup I will post you.

Thanks
Naresh
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Reshma Bhatnagar

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Jan 15, 2016, 9:47:41 AM1/15/16
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Dear Naresh,

Look forward to it. Let me know if you need any help.

Cheers,
Reshma

Dr.Vinod Scaria

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Jan 19, 2016, 11:58:03 AM1/19/16
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Hi

Anyone in Delhi keen and interested may contact me at vin...@igib.in 

Best regards
Vinod 
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Rajas Godbole

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Nov 12, 2016, 3:58:10 AM11/12/16
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Pretty late to the discussions im undergrduate biology 
also looking to do work in DIY Bio lab. 
Can i drop by somewhere near navimumbai or mumbai ? 
Interersted to know /'cheers !!

Marc Dusseiller

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Nov 13, 2016, 1:04:17 AM11/13/16
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hei,

you could visit the CUBE lab, part of homi bhaba center.
more here:

greets from kathmandu,
marc

Richard Gomes Biohacker

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Nov 8, 2017, 4:33:59 PM11/8/17
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Dear Naresh,

Introducing myself as a Biohacker from Workbench Projects here in Halasuru, Bangalore looking to setup (step by step) a biohackerspace that best reflects the DiY ethic and looking to awaken interest and awareness towards Biology and Biotechnology as a basic technology. Looking to get in touch and get support of the bio community from all over. I already have a Space (150 sq. ft.) that I will be converting to a lab along with a long list of Citizen science projects.

Am reachable at ric...@workbenchprojects.com or 9620264054 (WhatsApp) for further details and discussions. Thanks in advance
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