Open Bio Projects
is a platform that facilitates open-source projects, particularly in the biological sciences. It emphasizes do-it-yourself (DIY) biology and biohacking, providing resources for community-driven science projects. The website seems to share characteristics with other open science initiatives like iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine), focusing on collaborative and accessible science for enthusiasts and researchers alike.
DIYbio
Do It Yourself biology. Describes anything that has to do with a tinkering approach on any biological topic.
**Biohacking
The term appeared together with Biopunk. Biopunks do biohacking and thereby use biological material in a new context, give it new functionality or meaning.
I personally do not consider myself as a Biopunk, nor Biohacker, since I have a professional approach on the matter and do not only do it as a hobby, as the definition of the terms claim.
***Synthetic Biology
It combines science with engineering to create life forms with new functionalities.
****BioArt
The use of biological material or designs to create art, either by using living material itself or by using its design.
In Freiburg 2011, in the nice and warm springtime, I hosted the first DIY Biohacking session in Germany. We were four people with backgrounds in biology, electronic engineering, informatics and journalism.
P. crafted a powersupply for Gelelectrophorese and we did several successfull testruns in comparison with a professional machine. Sascha Karberg tried several DNA extraction kits on oral mucosa cells from P. and me. Afterwards we ran a PCR with Primers typically used in forensic laboratories for genetic fingerprinting and resolved the output on Agarose-gels, thereby experimenting with the DNA stains Cyber-safe and Methylene Blue.Cyber-safe was far more effective, but requires UV exitation, while methylene blue is visible in daylight (but barely only, not recommendable). The PCR failed due to wrong primer conenctrations. On the side I tried to decipher the menu setup of my Old-school COY thermocycler from the 80ies and collected temperature curves of the cycles, with the help of a little arduino based thermometer.
Special thanks to Dr. Friedel Drepper, Biochemistry Department, Faculty for Biology II, University of Freiburg, for his generous support and advice for my home lab!
We aim to transform protein expression in bacterial systems into an elegant, fast and affordable process. By eliminating routine use of expensive materials, this novel assay will utilize sustainable laboratory equipment and widespread His-Tag technology.
We propose an expression system induced by blue, green and red light, combined with subsequent temperature controlled autolysis of E. coli. The purification of the his-tagged protein of interest will be accomplished by an adaptor protein of our own design which binds the His-Tag on one side and the surface of serological pipettes on the other. Two subsequent pipetting steps for washing and purification of the cell lysate will quickly elute the product.
Our system will provide expression and purification of Polymerase and Ligase, but will be easily expandable to any His-tagged protein needed by the modern molecular biologist.
Gene technology is driven by the use of restriction endonucleases. Yet, constraints of limited sequence length and variation recognized by available restriction enzymes pose a major roadblock for synthetic biology. We developed the basis for universal restriction enzymes, primarily for routine cloning but also with potential for in vivo applications. We use a nucleotide cleavage domain fused to a binding domain, which recognizes a programmable adapter that mediates binding to DNA and thus cleavage. As adapter we use readily available modified oligonucleotides, as binding domain anticalins and as cleavage domain FokI moieties engineered for heterodimerization and activity. For cloning, this universal enzyme has merely to be mixed with the sequence specific oligonucleotide and the target DNA. Binding and release are addressed with thermocycling. Additionally, we provide concepts for in vivo applications by external adapter delivery, activity regulation by photo-switching, as well as for modifying an argonaute protein towards a DNA endonuclease.