Safety

One motivation for establishing DIYbio.org in advance of widespread amateur activity in the life sciences is to create a framework for best practices worldwide.  Amateur communities formed around many other technical and scientific areas such as ham radio, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology, rocketry, and perhaps most celebrated today, personal computing.  In each you will find ethical codes, norms of practice, and shared resources that promote the success of the community and the individuals in it.  Amateur activity in the life sciences is following the same path.

With an informal network of 2,000+ individuals in the DIYbio community and with input from experts and stakeholders from other areas, we are gathering the critical mass necessary to begin the collaborative work that will help us establish a vibrant, productive and safe community.  The Synthetic Biology Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center has partnered with DIYbio.org to help catalyze these efforts within the community.  The project is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and seeks to work with the community to establish a code of ethics, develop norms for safety, and create shared resources for promotion of safe practice by amateurs.  Read the press release.

We will update this page with more information as the project develops.  If you are interested in getting involved, please contact jason@diybio.org

Surveys

One of the goals of the project is to develop biosafety resources that the community would find helpful.  Ideally, these biosafety resources will be developed in a grass roots sort of fashion, based on the needs of the community.  So, one of the first things we’re doing is asking the DIYbio community: What biosafety questions / issues / concerns do you have based on your current or intended activites?  And what resources or information would you find helpful?  If you have a few extra minutes, please respond to our brief 2-question survey here.

Curated Collection of Biosafety Resources

While most biosafety resources available on the web are geared toward professional scientists and safety officers, there are many potentially useful resources out there for amateurs too.  For example, there is even an iPhone app for checking the compatibility of chemicals.

We have begun an effort to curate a collection of biosafety resources.  If you know of a useful resource that you would like to share or write a brief review about, please send an email to jason AT diybio.org

Presentations, Press, Additional Reading:

• “DIYbio: Origin, Activities & Scenarios for the Future.” Presented to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Philadelphia. September 14, 2010. (Watch, meeting agenda)
• Heidi Ledford. Garage biotech: Life hackers. Amateur hobbyists are creating home-brew molecular-biology labs, but can they ferment a revolution? Nature  467, 650-652 (2010) | doi:10.1038/467650a (Published online 6 October 2010).  Read now.
• Editorial. Garage biology: Amateur scientists who experiment at home should be welcomed by the professionals. Nature. Volume 467: p.634 (07 October 2010) doi:10.1038/467634a.  Read now.
• Kojo Nnamdi Show on NPR.  Aired March 22, 2011.  Details.