Near no experience

[John]

Honestly, i haven't even finished my bio class in school yet because
its still in the middle of the year. However, I've been exposed
enough biology to get me interested. Is it too early to begin doing a
bit of DIY?

What are some of the basic requirements in skill and in equipment?
What are some of the minimal level projects that I can do?

Thanks in advanced.

[Daniel Wexler]

Talk to your bio teacher to see if he/she can help you get started. A
good diy project to start with would be culturing bacteria from soil and
determining whether any of them make soluble substances (antibiotics)
that kill each other. It's as simple as colony isolating 5 different
bacteria by colony morphology (shape, size, color) and cross-streaking
them (5x5 = 25 cross-streaks).

[Aaron Hicks]

You can still do basic bacteriology, and even some plant tissue culture if you care.

http://www.home.turbonet.com/kitchenculture/tcinfo.htm

I was growing plants in sterile tissue culture by the time I was 15; although I had some help, certainly nobody was looking over my shoulder or giving me "cookbook instructions." Plant tissue culture is the first step to making transgenic plants.

Many of the basic microbiology tools are available on "eBay"- Petri plates, some agar, even media. You can probably get away with boiling many of your media and containers, or Tyndallizing them (bring to a boil once a day for three days) rather than autoclaving or pressure cooking.

-AJ

[Daniel Wexler]

You can buy agar at any natural foods store.

[michael taylor]

You need to learn / know lab safety to handle to handle to chemicals
and living samples. You'll have to do some self-directed reading and
learning on your own, but that does not mean people won't help you
along the way. Express your interest to you biology teacher, they may
be able to provide resources such as textbooks or access to the school
labs. Personally in a small rural public high school I had access to
undergraduate physic textbooks and was given access to the chemistry
lab on the weekend by my teachers who were supportive of my interests
and curiosity. If you live near a college or university, look at the
course calender, depending on the programs and resource they may allow
you enroll in a class as a non-degree / non-program student to take
1-2 courses. Don't forget to check spring/summer sessions, and summer
workshops / camps.

A 'step 0' project you can do today is "5 minute DNA extraction" which
uses household items to do a very simple project, to get your feet
wet:
<http://www.instructables.com/id/5_minute_DNA_Extraction_in_a_Shot_Glass/>
or <http://ohphook.notlong.com/>

In the diybio archives, there are references to educational material
available and/or being developed for high school students:
<http://groups.google.com/group/diybio/topics?gvc=2>
<http://groups.google.com/group/diybio/browse_thread/thread/1921da7d685845fa#>

Be safe, be curious, and enjoy,
Michael