After finishing Biopunk, I realized that the movement isn't a bunch of uneducated thugs out to mess with killer bacteria. I find it interesting that the resources that are commonly used in research labs today--outsourcing primer construction and things of that nature--are crucial to the biopunk movement. While I could never have a wet lab in my own home--my OCD would be in overdrive 24/7--I admire those who take it upon themselves to better the scientific community through funding their own personal research.
One question I had nagging at my brain continuously throughout the book was "So who actually does this kind of stuff?" The book gives plenty of examples to be sure, but they all seemed to run in the same circle. I wanted to know if anyone locally was taking part in such a venture. So I'm going to try to find out. I think it would be very interesting and enlightening to actually sit down with someone participating in this movement and see how they manipulate the materials available to them. Also, a PCR machine that is only slightly bigger than my iPhone, CAN I HAVE ONE!?!
While scouring the internet for local peoples who participate in biohacking, I came across my own blog on the first page of Google, so that's exciting. Then again, finding relevant results was rather difficult... The closest group of people practicing biohacking (according to DIYbio) is as close as Houston and as far away as Singapore and Australia. That's pretty impressive. I never expected people in Europe or Asia to really be all that involved in this. The fact that they have their own groups and such is pretty cool. Although the global map tells me that there are people in both Austin and Omaha. Oklahoma doesn't really seem to be on board just yet. Typical...
The DIYbio website has some cool content, if anyone was interested. Anyway, that's about all I've got for this one! "Adventure is out there!"
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