Philadelphia, PA Seriously Needs A DIY Bio Lab

[Frank Carr]

To whom it may concern:

I live not too far from Philadelphia, and was born and raised there.  Unfortunately it seems like there currently is no DIY Bio lab there, despite it being a high-profile intellectual center, known for great universities like Temple, Drexel, and Penn (yes, Ivy League!). In fact, the latter two are in a part of a section called, yes, "University City!"  The two nearest labs, alas, are in Brooklyn/NYC and Baltimore, both 2 hrs from Philadelphia.

I would be thrilled if some scientists got together and placed a lab in Philadelphia, and have access to the general public (with feedback, of course, from them concerning their needs, expectations, budgets, etc.). Meetup could be a great tool as well.

I hope you can get a good lab accessible to interested citizen scientists in Philadelphia and all its nearby Tri-State (PA, NJ, DE) communities.

Thank you!

Frank Carr

[Michael Hogan]

Real estate is cheap enough there .. The Hacktory is at 37th and Lancaster (right on the edge of Penn and Drexel), and I think they pay about $1/sq ft/month. Public transportation could not be easier to that area, and parking is not awful.

I think it would be pretty easy to set up a space actually. If anyone is interested, chime in on this thread. A mere 10 or 20 folks should be enough.

Might even be able to get some funding.

[Frank Carr]

Michael,

The Hacktory seems chiefly an electronics lab.  But maybe you can get a joint agreement, or even a bio lab within the facility.

Good luck!

[Michael Hogan]

I'm just saying that the neighborhood where The Hacktory is located is incredibly cheap, given the ease of access, and the proximity to the two schools.

And The Hacktory might be up for doing a bio "thing" .. I never really asked.  I am pretty sure that it would require someone dedicated to the task (i.e. no one at The Hacktory is likely to take the reins).

At any rate, given that we're the only two folks in this thread, we may have essentially answered why there is no bio-hacker lab in Philly .. there does not seem to be much interest.

[Patrik D'haeseleer]

Sounds like a great idea. So make it happen! Fact is, someone is going to have to step up and make this happen. And it might as well be you!

That's not to say that you have to do everything yourself. In fact, the easiest way is just to start gathering a group of like minded folks. Maybe start a Meetup group to shoot the breeze about cool biohacking and biotech ideas. Build the community first. *Then* look into building a lab for it.

In fact - do you know about the Camden Biohackers meetup? There's 58 people already primed to help putting together a community lab. More biotech meetups here.

Patrik

[Michael Hogan]

Followed that Meetup link and stumbled across a laboratory robotics interest group .. so thanks for posting that link.