Garvey and other scientific improvisers are part of a movement, do-it-yourself biology, which they call DIYbio. The idea is to make it possible for almost anyone to discover biology. Genspace is one of the movements points because it is a nonprofit laboratory open to the public regardless of their scientific background.
Many obstacles come along with trying to open up a door to give anyone who wants to practice biology access to a laboratory. One concern is that amateurs may intentionally or accidentally create a deadly disease, but Genspace claims they have taken precautions and made safety standards to minimize this risk. Another obstacle is of the course a money issue, but Garvey argues that people over estimate the cost of a laboratory, since his only costs four thousand euros- approximately $5,000.
This article is very interesting yet somewhat scary. Science and technology are progressing so rapidly that eventually, people are going to be able to perforn all sorts of experiments in the comfort of their own living room. With that said, I think one of the biggests challenges people will have will be how to prevent accidently creating a deadly disease, bacteria, or virus. Hopefully the development of cures with increase as there is an increase in DIY BIO
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have heard of such a thing. This is very intriguing to the first time reader, but after further considering the idea I believe this is a very scary development in modern science. However, I am not surprised this idea has been purposed. It was only a matter of time before someone purposed the idea of an at home laboratory; everything else is becoming available in the comfort of our own homes.
ReplyDeleteThere's a great non-fiction book that got a lot of acclaim when it was published back on 2008: The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. It basically talked about scientists back in the Romantic Era (circa 1700-early 1800) who did all sorts of experiments in their own laboratories, exhibiting a passion to extend the borders of scientific knowledge at great personal risk. The book centers around two famous scientists: William Herschel and Humphry Davy. The chapters dedicated to Sir William Herschel describes his upbringing and how he eventually came to build his own telescopes, and then utilized his very own inventions to lay the foundations of astronomy as a scientific discipline. In the subsequent chapters detailing Sir Humphry Davy's life, the book describes Davy's many contributions to the field of chemistry, with one morbidly amusing anecdote of how the scientist discovered laughing gas: he would purify and then combine different atoms to form molecules in their gaseous state, and then inhale said molecules to discover their physical properties. As one can imagine, his synthesis and subsequent inhalation of carbon monoxide nearly killed him. It's really a great book, I recommend it to everyone interested in the idea that science is really shaped by human hands.
ReplyDeleteI feel DIYbio could be both beneficial and catastrophic to the world. DIYbio would increase the chances of discovering cures to various diseases, since there would be more people doing the research. On the other hand DIYbio could be used in an evil way by terrorist organizations to create biological weapons. This post was very interesting; however, I think a extensive background investigation should take place prior to distributing any DIYbio equipment.
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