Atlanta people interested in making cheap enzymes?

[Hans Wilms]

Hey all,

I've been interested in cheap enzyme production for quite a few years now. This has been on and off as allowed under the various biotechs I've worked for, with pretty much all work being done in a garage/apartment. I've gone as far as to create a simple automated bioreactor using a mason jar, raspberry pi, and python for E. coli cultivation. It would feed in more antibiotic/media as needed through peristaltic pumps, and could be used for semi-continuous, automated production. I made a few batches of GFP/Taq before I had to move my home lab again. The entire wetted setup was even fully autoclavable (well... pressure cook-able).

I was wondering if there were any people in the Atlanta area that would be interested in collaborating or helping? My pipe-dream is to one day make enzymes so freakin' cheap that biological assays become crazy cheap, opening up biotech research to a lot more people. Plus it's fun.

I have a PhD in molecular biology and a lot of experience in the DIYbio scene. I have pretty much all the reagents and equipment we need too (thermocycler, pressure cooker, glass/plasticware, SDS-PAGE stuff, etc). At this point I'm really only interested in working with local people. Shoot me an email if you're interested and give me a brief blurb about your background, and let's see if we can make something happen. Please don't hesitate if you don't have much experience, the worst I can do is say "no"!

hanst...@gmail.com

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-Hans T. Wilms