First official DNA biohacking lab in The Netherlands

[Pieter]

Finally genetic engineering is allowed in our Open Wetlab! The Ministry has officially granted us the right to program the DNA of bacteria in our lab for bioart, biodesign and biohacking.

Ever since opening the lab in Waag Society in 2012 obtaining such a license was on our wish list. However, the prospect for an unreasonable complex environmental permit procedure was holding us back. This used to be necessary for even the simplest and most harmless DNA hacking. As of March 1st the law has changed, enabling us to finally bring the ability to program bacteria into the realm of citizen science, independent arts and design.

This license, called “S-I”, still comes with very strict safety regulations. For instance, only GMOs known not to pose health risks can be made, and an independent bio-safety expert will be present during the whole procedure. The good news is that now that we have the license, we are can invite everyone to hands-on workshops to both understand the controversies and possibilities of biotechnology as well as the important responsibilities underlying the creation of a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO).

The kind of questions that we would like to address with you are: What are GMOs, really? How are they made, why and by whom? Are they dangerous? How can you relate to them? Can we eat them? Or should we avoid them altogether? We will explore these questions and more during a new soon-to-be-announced series of Open Wetlab events.

For this first series, you can join us in co-creating genetically modified bacteria producing colourful pigment proteins visible to the naked eye! Step by step, we will safely guide you through the process of introducing a gene construct into E. Coli. And you can compare them to our collection of natural pigment producing strains. 

Expect to see more of this in the near future as we will organize various open evenings to create, discuss and explore what GMOs are, can be, and could soon become from an interdisciplinary, citizen-centred perspective.

The workshops will take place after our summer break, most likely early September. Join our community page www.meetup.com/Dutch-DIY-Bio to stay up to date.

Here's a news item in Dutch: http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/van/2015/juli/07/avondje-uit-even-de-bacterien-laten-gloeien-1514721

[Cathal (Phone)]

Fantastic news Pieter! We need a map of licensed EU biomakerspaces, that's what, 4 now? :D

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Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

[Pieter]

Great idea! who should be on the map? London biohackers, Open biolab Graz and Forma?

[Cathal (Phone)]

Forma is sadly not yet licensed, but are Manchester Madlab?

[BraveScience]

Hi all,

I heard of a biohackerspace in Prague
, I'll ask again to be sure it's correct.
Anyway those guys have fancy stuff ;)

Looking forward to do some workshop on synthetic biology!

Great Pieter!

Best,
Fede

[Pieter]

BRMlab's biolab? http://brmlab.cz/project/biolab

I don't know whether they have a license..

[Kermit Henson]

Congrats Pieter :)

To all offical lab owners:

1. Is there any offical requeriments by the UE or it hust depends on each country?

2. Could you explain the proces and time?

[Jason Bobe]

Congratulations! By any chance, does your government issue an actual physical license? Like something you hang on the wall? I hope so b/c would be a great artefact one day and would like to see it :)  

Do you need to hire the biosafety person? Are they assigned? 

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[Claudio Tiecher]

That is a great news Pieter! More and more will follow...

Awesome :)

Happy biohacking!

Claudio
DIYbio Groningen

[Otto Heringer]

Congratz, Pieter! :)

What about a biohack academy course for building molecular biology infra!? It would be great! The final projects could deeply interact with the present "biofactory" course or even not involve gmos, working on dna markers and stuff for instance.

I have the same questions as Kermit. If possible, it would be very interesting if you could blog how was all the process to get the license in further details.

It seems to me that EU tends to be more restrictive like anywhere else in the world. I never seriuosly looked out how things work in Brazil (extremmely boring stuff... and unfortunatelly is on my to do list), but despite my wishes of a less restricted law environment, just wonder if I must keep wishing that given the nefarious lobby power the agriculture industry have here (hmm, this seems to be less boring at all...).

Best wishes,

Otto