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Biohacking FAQ: Difference between revisions
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'''A:''' We have a formal management structure for legal (and convenience) reasons, but it doesn’t set direction. If you come along to the Wednesday meet-up, any members you meet should be able to give you a good perspective and overview of the space and current projects. | '''A:''' We have a formal management structure for legal (and convenience) reasons, but it doesn’t set direction. If you come along to the Wednesday meet-up, any members you meet should be able to give you a good perspective and overview of the space and current projects. | ||
'''Q: Why was the biohackspace founded?''' | |||
'''A:''' The biohackspace grew from the desires of a few members to explore the possibilities of molecular and microbiology in a hackspace -- 'hacking' (building ourselves from scratch, or modifying or fixing existing) our own equipment and coming up with our own processes. | |||
Since then we became licensed for CL1 genetic modification and have extended the same question to synthetic biology. | |||
Our goal is to allow those who may not have access to a lab to learn the fundamentals of modern microbiological techniques, and to enable those who do work at a lab to improve their skills and knowledge by working on things which they wouldn't perhaps have time for in their usual labs. | |||
'''Q: How does membership work? ''' | |||
'''A:''' We use space kindly supplied by the London Hackspace and thus don't pay rent. We do have to buy our own equipment and consumables (that is, reagents and disposable plastics such as pipette tips) and for this we charge a very small membership fee, currently £10 a month. | |||
Members must be inducted to be able to enter the space. This is a legal requirement for Containment Level 1 and above labs, such as the biohackspace. The induction teaches new members how to use the lab safely: safe use of equipment, safe handling of microbiological agents and of chemicals, and safe disposal techniques. | |||
'''Q: What does your membership look like? ''' | |||
'''A:''' We have around 40 members, from many different backgrounds: professional biologists, computer scientists, designers, and artists. | |||
'''Q: What sort of projects are you working on? ''' | |||
'''A:''' We don't generally have overall lab projects. People tend to work on their own experiments, or form small groups. Recent experiments include blood typing, genetic modification of bacteria with some of the biobricks from the IGEM kit, a small dinoflagellate aquarium, genetic testing for some "fun" traits (such as ability to taste certain bitter tastes), and an impromptu tardigrade viewing. | |||
=== For new members === | === For new members === | ||
