So, I gave a talk at the Synbio Future conference in Cork, which was organised by SynbioAxlr8r and brought in some top talent in Synthetic Biology to speak about their work and the prospects for the future of the field, and Ireland’s role in it. My own talk was in the “translation” block, so I tried to discuss my experiences making a business out of Synbio. At the time, I was trying to raise money for IndieBB (an effort which failed), but I tried to keep that out of the talk except where it was relevant.
As is often the case when I fail to post for months, I’ve been busy. In addition to my own work in the lab, which currently entails bypassing and leapfrogging existing affinity chromatography standards while making DIY protein purification trivial (!), I’ve been roped into organising an ambitious Synthetic Biology business accelerator programme in my home city, Cork, and I’m officially a co-curator for the upcoming Synthetic Biology exhibition in Science Gallery, “Grow Your Own”.
It’s not too late for you to take part in the biohacking workshops that I’ve been facilitating in the Science Gallery this past week. It’s true, the wet-work is officially out of the way, and tomorrow’s session assumes some grounding that has been provided in prior days. However, the last day will focus not on the methods, nor even the knowledge of biotech. Instead, we’ll focus on the role of biohacking in society, with a particular focus on the transformative power of DIY biotech, the social responsibility and ethics that this calls for, and the particulars of Irish law regarding biohacking.