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on November 15
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Posted project update #19BioCurious officially opens. Now offering limited-time membership rate!
Post CommentHello BioCurious-ities!
We bring you most excellent news: BioCurious - the first hackerspace for bio - has launched. So much has happened since our recent opening! In the past few weeks, we’ve:
- Successfully opened and staffed the lab. (Thanks, volunteers! You rock!)
- Held a well-attended series of classes, ranging from the Business of Biotech to Advanced Personal Genomics to a Genetic Engineering 101 lab, with many more classes to come.
- Hosted meetups and get-togethers, including special events for the Thiel 20 Under 20 fellows, and a well-attended Project Brainstorming night, hosted by professional scientists, with more to come.
- Expanded our suite of equipment through donations and strategic purchases.
For a limited time, we’re offering a special membership rate of $100/month. Members who sign-up now will lock-in this rate for a year. (We’ll also grandfather in current members at this price). The introductory rate is only available for a limited time, so sign up now!
Also, if you pay for a full year, you get 2 months free - that's a savings of $200!Science is your friend. Learn new skills, meet cofounders, build your proof-of-concept. Join now and get started!
Equipment
We’ve got new equipment coming in all the time...- Just this month, we got the donation of a qPCR machine (new: $15,000; used: $5,000 -- thanks to John Schloendorn for the donation!).
- We’re working on getting more lab scales, more refrigeration space, a UV spectrophotometer, and a flow hood. Let us know what you need, and we’ll get it on the list.
- We've just acquired 3 chemical storage cabinets (thanks, Reto Stamm!), which brings us closer to allowing a much wider variety of chemicals in the lab.
- And, new couches in our reception area (thanks, Kristina and Raymond!). We’ll count that as butt-resting equipment.
Purchasing reagents can be expensive, especially when you have to purchase more than you need. What you pay for dry ice shipping pushes these prices even higher. That's why we're opening an on-site reagent store which will sell smaller quantities of commonly used reagents, at much better rates. Keep an eye out for news of the reagent store opening later this month!
We will carry:- electrophoresis reagents (i.e. Agarose, running buffers, DNA dyes),
- growth media,
- PCR master mix,
- lab E. Coli strains,
- And many more -- all biotech quality and contamination-free
Members get a 15% discount on all store items. As always, members can get specialty reagents shipped to and stored at BioCurious.
Free Supplies!
We've created a depot of supplies which are provided free of charge to all members. Free supplies include pipette tips, safety gloves, denatured ethanol, ultrapure water, and bleach. These basic supplies are available to members, making it easier to do basic lab work, and to keep the lab clean and safe. We also maintain a surplus “hack this” area -- donated supplies which are free for members to use for their own projects.
New Equipment Classes -- Free to Members!
To help new members get up to speed, we're working on a series of classes covering basic lab techniques and “how-to” equipment use. This includes classes on pipetting, centrifugation, sterile technique, running the qPCR machine, and more. All of these classes will be free to members, along with the basic orientation and safety classes.We hope this helps you get in the lab and doing biotech.
Now is the best time to get a membership, take a class, or start a project.
Come be a part of the next big thing to come out of a Silicon Valley garage!
Six year-olds can do this. What's stopping you?
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on June 1, 2011
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Posted project update #18USA Today and Biohackers. A perfect pair.
Post CommentWell, maybe not. But you can still find BioCurious in today's print edition of USA Today (page A9) and online at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2011-06-01-science-biopunk-hacker_n.htm
USA Today caught up with us during the Bay Area Maker Faire, where we displayed worms and brains under microscopes and Winogradsky columns we made at a recent meetup (photo 1) and featured a Mad Scientist Hall of Fame (photo 2). At the end, BioCurious won an Education Award from Maker Faire (photo 3)!
USA Today was working off the momentum of "Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Hardware of Life," a new book by Marcus Wohlsen, which profiles all your favorite scientists. :) Get your copy at http://www.amazon.com/Biopunk-Scientists-Hack-Software-Life/dp/1617230022
Kids love brains! Josh Perfetto and Eri Gentry (left), Jennifer Shieh (right), Maker Faire (eeeeverywhere!)
Aren't we all Mad Scientists at heart? Left-to-right: Eri Gentry, Reto Stamm, and Kathryn Hedgest (thanks to Raymond McCauley and Reto Stamm for making the setup!)
Winner =)
[Photos courtesy of Jennifer Shieh]
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on February 14, 2011
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Posted project update #17BioCurious completes first group science education activity
Post CommentOn Saturday 2/12/2011, BioCurious helped one of our supporters, 13 year old Thomas Hunt, try an experiment for an upcoming science fair he is participating in. Here is a link to the kit we used from Carolina Biological. http://www.carolina.com/product/211366.do
Although we don't yet have our lab space ready, some friends at a local research lab offered to host us for this activity. Also on hand were film makers Sam and George of FieldTest. Joseph invited them to help us film the experiment so we can upload it as a video tutorial.
We consider this first activity a prototype for how we will run classes for the public and are reflecting carefully on what we learned from this exercise. In the meantime, consider supporting Sam and George's documentary. They have met and interviewed the founding figures of Snythetic Biology as well as BioCurious and the NYC citizen biology group GenSpace. Their film could play a vital role in teaching the public about this powerful emerging technology and in explaining the aims of BioCurious and other community labs.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/637230479/a-documentary-film-about-synthetic-biology
Thanks again for your continued support and stay tuned for our eventual grand opening.
Stay Curious!
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on January 18, 2011
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
commented on a project updateHi Ken, Thanks for your quick response! A license is optional but experience is a must have. Tito
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on January 17, 2011
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Posted project update #16Hello from BioCurious!
Hello Friends of BioCurious!
Happy 2011! Eri, Joe, Josh, Kristina, Raymond, and myself are hard at work getting BioCurious started up. We’ve got another opportunity for you to help!
We are looking for a professional architect to advise BioCurious -- someone with biotech experience in the San Francisco Bay Area would be fantastic. If you’re an architect, or know any architects let us know! Or, if you want to write back and say ‘hi’, we would love to hear from you too!
Tito and the BioCurious Team
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on November 26, 2010
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Posted project update #15Happy Thanksgiving! Prizes in the mail!
Post CommentAfter a fun "packing party" (thanks to our helpers!), packages of stickers and t-shirts are on their way to you. Thanks for your patience. :) Bigger prizes, like OpenPCR and lifetime memberships, will be coming, too, but will take a bit longer.
It's exciting to see how far our message has traveled -- We had backers from Croatia, Australia, Singapore... Kind thanks to our friends from the US and around the globe!
That's it for now. I hope you all have had a smashing Thanksgiving (or non-American "day").
BioCurious
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on October 14, 2010
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Posted project update #14BioCurious Goodies
Post CommentThe BioCurious team has been busy scoping out potential lab sites, firming up our corporate and legal structure, planning a post-Kickstarter celebration, and all the less exciting day-to-day stuff.
Up next: prizes for YOU! Sorry for the delay in getting these out - we had to get structure details sorted before buying the prezzies.
I'll be working on getting these to you as soon as I can. The way I see it, Christmas *will* come early.
And, for those who missed it, check out the terrific Nature article "Garage biotech: Life Hackers..." Worth the read!
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101006/full/467650a.htmlUntil next time, fair citizens....
Eri
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on September 24, 2010
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Posted project update #13Victory! And the Mercury News...
We did it! And all thanks to you, our lovely backers!!
Now, on the back-end, we've entered full-throttle "let's get this lab started and get you your prizes" mode. Tito sent out surveys asking for your addresses and the like this afternoon. Please fill those out so we can send you goodies.
Expect to hear from us soon with updates on the lease and the Kickstarter backer party, among other important events.
To whet your appetites, check out today's article published in the San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_16158406... If you're in San Jose, pick up a copy!
Thank you again - So Much - for helping us get to this point. Much love to you all! Believe me, I'm hugging you in my mind. ;)
Eri & The BioCurious founding team:
Joseph Jackson
Tito Jankowski
Josh Perfetto
Raymond McCauley
Kristina Hathaway-
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Brian Baker on September 24, 2010
Well done guys and thanks for letting me get the $1,100 level for my wife and $2,500 level for me..BrianBaker
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Post Comment -
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on September 23, 2010Funded!
BioCurious: A Hackerspace for Biotech. The Community Lab for Citizen Science by Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
A hackerspace is a place for collaboration, learning, and community support. The model has been wildly successful for IT and hardware, lets try BIO!
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117% funded $35,319 pledged
- 239 backers
- Funded Sep 23, 2010
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on September 23, 2010
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
commented on a project updateHey, now that's what I call visionary! Thanks for pitching us :) Looking forward to BioCurious SoCal! Eri
Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J
Mountain View, CA
Founding Team: Eri Gentry, co-founder & director, community development Joseph Jackson co-founder & director of policy, strategy Tito Jankowski, director of education curriculum Raymond McCauley, adviser, genomics, bioinformatics S... view more
Does this job pay? And is an architecture degree enough or do they have to have a license?
-Ken
Hi Ken,
Thanks for your quick response! A license is optional but experience is a must have.
Tito
Okay. Thanks Tito. I have a friend named Liz Thompson who I'm going to have contact you guys. She has good experience, she's smart and super practical, I think you guys will love working with her. Do you have an email that I could have her contact you guys at? If you want to write me directly my email is: nozomi-ken@sbcglobal.net
Thanks Tito.
Best,
Ken