[wordup] Amateurs are trying genetic engineering at home

[Adam Shand]

The whole tinkering with genes, along with nanotech, does freak me out  
a bit.  But I must say that I think this is cool, certainly people  
learning about this on their own time with available tools generally  
seems like a good thing to me.

Adam.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081225/ap_on_sc/do_it_yourself_dna

SAN FRANCISCO – The Apple computer was invented in a garage. Same with  
the Google search engine. Now, tinkerers are working at home with the  
basic building blocks of life itself.

Using homemade lab equipment and the wealth of scientific knowledge  
available online, these hobbyists are trying to create new life forms  
through genetic engineering — a field long dominated by Ph.D.s toiling  
in university and corporate laboratories.

In her San Francisco dining room lab, for example, 31-year-old  
computer programmer Meredith L. Patterson is trying to develop  
genetically altered yogurt bacteria that will glow green to signal the  
presence of melamine, the chemical that turned Chinese-made baby  
formula and pet food deadly.

"People can really work on projects for the good of humanity while  
learning about something they want to learn about in the process," she  
said.

So far, no major gene-splicing discoveries have come out anybody's  
kitchen or garage.
But critics of the movement worry that these amateurs could one day  
unleash an environmental or medical disaster. Defenders say the future  
Bill Gates of biotech could be developing a cure for cancer in the  
garage.

Many of these amateurs may have studied biology in college but have no  
advanced degrees and are not earning a living in the biotechnology  
field. Some proudly call themselves "biohackers" — innovators who push  
technological boundaries and put the spread of knowledge before profits.

In Cambridge, Mass., a group called DIYbio is setting up a community  
lab where the public could use chemicals and lab equipment, including  
a used freezer, scored for free off Craigslist, that drops to 80  
degrees below zero, the temperature needed to keep many kinds of  
bacteria alive.

Co-founder Mackenzie Cowell, a 24-year-old who majored in biology in  
college, said amateurs will probably pursue serious work such as new  
vaccines and super-efficient biofuels, but they might also try, for  
example, to use squid genes to create tattoos that glow.

Cowell said such unfettered creativity could produce important  
discoveries.

"We should try to make science more sexy and more fun and more like a  
game," he said.
Patterson, the computer programmer, wants to insert the gene for  
fluorescence into yogurt bacteria, applying techniques developed in  
the 1970s.

She learned about genetic engineering by reading scientific papers and  
getting tips from online forums. She ordered jellyfish DNA for a green  
fluorescent protein from a biological supply company for less than  
$100. And she built her own lab equipment, including a gel  
electrophoresis chamber, or DNA analyzer, which she constructed for  
less than $25, versus more than $200 for a low-end off-the-shelf model.

Jim Thomas of ETC Group, a biotechnology watchdog organization, warned  
that synthetic organisms in the hands of amateurs could escape and  
cause outbreaks of incurable diseases or unpredictable environmental  
damage.

"Once you move to people working in their garage or other informal  
location, there's no safety process in place," he said.

Some also fear that terrorists might attempt do-it-yourself genetic  
engineering. But Patterson said: "A terrorist doesn't need to go to  
the DIYbio community. They can just enroll in their local community  
college."

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