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Update #19: BioCurious officially opens. Now offering limited-time membership rate!
Hello 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!
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?
Update #18: USA Today and Biohackers. A perfect pair.
Well, 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]
Update #17: BioCurious completes first group science education activity
On 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!
Update #16: Hello 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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Ken Yamada on January 17, 2011
Does this job pay? And is an architecture degree enough or do they have to have a license?
-Ken
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Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J on January 18, 2011
Hi Ken,
Thanks for your quick response! A license is optional but experience is a must have.
Tito -
Ken Yamada on January 21, 2011
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
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Update #15: Happy Thanksgiving! Prizes in the mail!
After 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
Update #14: BioCurious Goodies
The 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.html
Until next time, fair citizens....
Eri
Update #13: Victory! 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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Update #12: BioCurious: a Last Hurrah
As we enter into the final (18, as of this writing) hours, BioCurious has one last chance to get our message out. Who better to tell the world what the bio community wants than you, our incredible backers? (Easy answer: no one!)
We've had a great run, but we're not done yet.... Let's go out with a bang! How you can help is by tweeting our project, sharing on facebook, and writing to your networks, like our friend Mitch Altman, founder of Noisebridge, did https://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-discuss/2010-September/016531.html
Huge hat tip to Mitch, who directly inspired me to start a hackerspace. Mitch travels the world inspiring others, and I hope BioCurious can serve as the same type of catalyst for those in the bio world.
Thanks to all of you!
Eri Gentry
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Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J on September 23, 2010
Hey, now that's what I call visionary! Thanks for pitching us :)
Looking forward to BioCurious SoCal!Eri
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Jeff on September 23, 2010
@Ryan - Ping the NullSpace Labs list, they are based out of LA and I believe they were working with a group in SoCal who was interested in creating such a space.
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Update #11: Eri and Tito write on the MAKE Magazine Blog
Eri and I are guest bloggers this month on the MAKE Magazine Blog -- be on the lookout for us! (http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/09/citizen_science_guest_authors.html)
Here's 2 projects we've highlighted so far:
CureTogether - manage your own health, so you can feel better, faster
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/09/curetogether_--_crowdsourced_health.html#more
Citizen scientist takes matters into his own hands
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/09/citizen_scientist_takes_matters_int.html
Let us know if there's a cool project you would like us to cover! tito@biocurious.org and eri@biocurious.org.
Curiosity is contagious,
Tito and Eri
Update #10: Captain, prepare for warp speed
All aboard the USS BioCurious!
It's *official*, BioCurious is a go. Thank you all so much! It was only about a week ago that we were at $15k, 50% of our goal and now we're there! We also love the messages from all of you, it's been inspirational hearing about your own pursuits and why you chose to support BioCurious.
We've got some really great prizes up so there's still time to become a supporter of the first community biotech lab. (I'm trying to figure out how to get myself one of those DNA models by Cathal). The Lifetime member awards are particularly hot!
Thank you!
Tito, Eri, and Joe
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Brian Baker on September 15, 2010
Well done guys..I was trying to figure out how to do both your $1,100 dollar level and $2,500 to get more of the goodies and include my wife.The computer will not let me do both argh!! I wish you the best---Brian Baker
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Joseph J, Eri G, and Tito J on September 15, 2010
Thanks!!!!!!
Brian, just sent a message re: combining pledges & prizes. (It's no problem.)
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Brian Baker on September 17, 2010
Hi guys ..I upped my pledge to $3,600 to be able to enjoy the $1,100 level and the $2,500 level...thanks again...this is fun to watch as I come from a family involved in genetics and statistics the old fashioned way...thanks again .......Brian Baker
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Update #9: Coffee, Cathal, and Citizen Science
With 9 days left, we want to keep the buzz going and are introducing two new prizes!
(1) Can you live without Starbucks for a day? In the name of Citizen Science, save that $3 and use it back BioCurious at our new "coffee level" and get your name listed on our website as a Kick-starter! Great for those with biocuriosity in their hearts, but who can't be with us in person.
(2) Friend of BioCurious, Cathal Garvey, has designed a special edition BioCurious Accurate 3D DNA model. It's a real looker - see below. For $26, this DNA model will be yours!
Check out Cathal's other creations at http://www.shapeways.com/hisdesign... and his blog http://letters.cunningprojects.com/
Thanks to every one of you for being a part of this effort! Cheers to Citizen Science!
Eri, Joseph & TIto
PS: Please tell your friends about the project and our new prizes!
Update #8: BioCurious in Washington DC!
We're delighted to tell you that BioCurious has been featured this morning as a highlight of the advances in biotechnology as part of President Obama's "Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues". Congrats to Jason Bobe, co-founder of DIYbio on the great presentation to our new friends in Washington.
BioCurious and community labs starts around 27 min in! (Session 6: Current Advances and Practices)
http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/bioethics/100913/default.cfm
We're 90% of the way to making BioCurious a reality!
Be Curious,
Tito, Eri, and Joe
Update #7: Founding Member McCauley featured in Nature Medicine
Hey everyone,
You may know 23andMe , the company that trades your spit sample (and a few benjamins) for copious amounts of your raw genetic information. But what can you actually do with this data?
Citizen Scientist Raymond McCauley did quite a lot after learning about his genetic predispositions. He had a variant of MTHFR (Samuel Jackson's favorite gene), responsible for processing vitamin B-9. Wanting a practical answer to the question of what vitamins really work for him, he and a small group at DIYgenomics (www.diygenomics.org) got together at BioCurious, the first biotech hackerspace in the San Francisco Bay Area. They started a "crowd-sourced clinical trial" to measure the effects of different brands and formulations of vitamins.
Check out the full article in this week's Nature Medicine:
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v16/n9/full/nm0910-953.html
Congrats Raymond!
Tito, Eri, and Joe
Update #6: I think I can, I think I can
Hi everyone,
WOW, what a day :)
First, BioCurious was featured prominently on the Kickstarter homepage as "Project of the Day".
And then, we looked in our inboxes and saw BioCurious on the top of the Kickstarter Weekly Newsletter -- "This Week on Kickstarter: Biohacking".
And then we looked on Twitter and Facebook and saw dozens and dozens of you all telling your friends about BioCurious!
Thank you everyone, and keep it up!
We've got 14 days left and are about 70% to our goal. Keep spreading the word!
Be Curious!
Tito, Eri, and Joe
Update #5: Start your engines!
For backers only,
Posted on September 7, 2010
If you're a backer of this project, please
log in
to read this post.
239
Backers
$35,319
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on September 23, 2010.
Pledge $3 or more
The Coffee Level. Can you live without Starbucks for a day? Forgo that skinny soy pumpkin soy latte for A DAY, and pledge toward the advancement of Citizen Science! For your pledge, you get your name listed on our website as a founding kickstarter!
Pledge $5 or more
BioCurious decals. Stick 'em where it counts!
Pledge $25 or more
BioCurious t-shirt. Proudly display how you feel about biology! (Everyone who donates above this level will also receive a t-shirt.)
Pledge $26 or more
Friend of BioCurious, Cathal Garvey, has designed a special edition BioCurious Accurate 3D DNA model. It's a real looker and, for $26, this DNA model will be yours! Check out Cathal's other creations at http://www.shapeways.com/hisdesign?user_id=13282 and his blog http://letters.cunningprojects.com/
Pledge $40 or more
1 Weekend Pass to BioCurious
Pledge $50 or more
Party thrown in your honor (for locals). Come meet and party with fellow BioCurious supporters!
Pledge $100 or more
BioCurious founding supporters. Your name will be listed in a founding mural – a DNA base pairs graphic with names written along the base pairs. (Everyone who donates above this level will also have their name put in the mural.)
Pledge $500 or more
Quantify your blood's cancer killing ability (locals only). How well will your blood (innate immune system) fend off cancer? Come in person to give a blood sample and we will determine exactly that. For technical details, see http://www.livly.org/Research.html
Pledge $600 or more
3 Month Membership @ BioCurious! Become a Founding Member and receive a 3 month membership, your name in the founding DNA mural, a t-shirt and a decal.
Pledge $1,000 or more
OpenPCR (your choice of kit or machine fully-assembled) + private instruction from its creators, Tito Jankowski and Josh Perfetto (video chat for non-locals)
Pledge $1,100 or more
6 Month Membership @ BioCurious! Become a Founding Member and receive a 6 month membership, your name in the founding DNA mural, a t-shirt, a decal, and a special edition BioCurious DNA model by Cathal Garvey.
Pledge $2,500 or more
Lifetime BioCurious membership
Project By
Connected as Joseph P Jackson (877 friends)
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
See our past activities at http://www.meetup.com/BioCurious
See discussions about (our) garage biology at http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2010/03/dyi_garage_biot.php
and http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/03/12/garage_biotech.php
Contact: Media + others can reach us at joseph.jackson@gmail.com + innercircle@biocurious.org Interviews can be arranged.
