Amateur scientists scare me.....

[TZ]

While I applaud interest in science..this is going WAAAY too far

Do it yourself DNA:Amateurs Trying genetic engineering at home
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.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/25/do-it-yourself-dna-amateu_n_153489.html

There are people in GD who actually think this is a good thing, because of course it takes it out of the hands of evil biotech!
Don't those freaks understand why this is done in contained labs!
I'm sorry this scares the shit out of me. In a lab under contained conditions bioengineering is great..but in amateur hands? :shudder:
:scared:

[Evoman]

1. How the hell could people afford to do it anyways?

PCR, cloning, etc aren't really cheap...gotta have the equipment, gotta have the chemicals, gotta have the knowledge.

[TZ]

2. They are making their own equipment

Which in itself scares me...How the hell could you know if the instrument is doing what its supposed to be doing?

[Hannah Bell]

15. a high school class in this town does it.

[conscious evolution]

3. The 'amatuer'part doesn't worry me so much

But I agree with you on the labs and equipment aspect.
To easy to be this guy

[lizerdbits]

4. What are the regulations involving GMOs?

All I know for certain about GMOs and regulations is if I ship one it has to be labeled as such, but I don't work with GMOs otherwise. I thought there were regulations for containment to make sure GMOs didn't get into the environment. At least until they had been approved (not sure if that's the FDA or what agency) if we're talking GMO crops.

"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."

That's not phrased very well. He means keeping them for long term storage, though you could keep them continuously growing instead (assuming it's an organism that doesn't genetically change much when grown ex vivo, but I think that more of a problem with some viruses grown in cell culture vs. a host).

[TZ]

5. See thats what I wonder.

I thought that regs kept GMO type organisms under controlled conditons.
Could you imagine what could happen if some of the transgenic mice and such got out? Or plasmids?
I suppose people can use yeast and yogurt bacteria, but I can't understand how people could avoid contamination from said organisms.

[lizerdbits]

6. Looks like APHIS is involved for potential plant/animal pathogens

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/index.shtml

It probably depends on the organism though I'm not going to look into it right now. While that yogurt is pretty safe and would probably do nothing if spilled in your back yard, this could have serious consequences in the hands of the self professed 'biohackers.' Not just accidents but the more malicious types...

[TZ]

7. Here's the quote that alarms me...

"amateurs will probably pursue serious work such as new vaccines..." Holy fuck. Can you imagine these idiots trying to make a new vaccine in their garage or kitchen?!:scared:

[lizerdbits]

8. Good luck to them

Hiring some QA people to audit all their documentation and getting that through the FDA. :rofl:

[Heddi]

9. OMG! WTF!? LOL I LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVE Dee-eye-why

OMG! I remember getting a microscope when I was like 5 and I was able to see the CELL WALLS of an ONION SKIN omg! I'm so scientific now because of that.!!! I'm practically a BIO-ENGENEERE!

Anyhoo, when I took BIOLOGY$$$$ in COLLEGE$$$$$$$$$ (what a GROSS abuse of POWER THAT CLASS WAS OMG! Totally PROFESSED by BIG PHARMA $HILL$$$$$$$) we got to extract DNA (not me using caps for EXCITEMENT, just using caps for ABREVIATIONS!) from the roots of GREEN ONION$. And then we put it in a little thing and I forgot the name but we did the DNA TYPING AND MATCHING OMG!

come to find out the green oiniononinon was the FATHER OF MY CHILD OMG!

[CreekDog]

10. Hey, don't knock it

:P

[Deep13]

11. I hope that does not extend to amatuer astronomers!

:evilgrin:

I don't do much actual science myself, but many supernovae and comet discoveries can be credited to amatuers. Likewise, the changes in luminosity of variable stars are tracked mostly by amatures.

[TZ]

12. Of course not!

Because their data can be verified and if wrong won't be accepted. It doesn't take special training to look through a telescope either.:)
I think amateur astronomers are pretty cool actually.

[Deep13]

13. Unfortuately, in winter here it is either too cloudy or too cold to go observing.

Too bad too since it is nice to have it dark so early.

[Hannah Bell]

14. yes, amateurs cause so much harm when compared to the pros.

not.

[TZ]

16. Yeah

Like you amateurs know EVERYTHING that goes on in the professional world. NOT.
The woos don't even know how to read a scientific article.
Would you like to tell me since you know so much how a clinical trial works? And how long it takes a drug to go from development to market? Or what happens after it goes on the market? Or how the FDA works for that matter?
Come on smarty pants..You have ALL the answers right?

[Hannah Bell]

17. no, that esoteric information is only known to lab techs.

[trotsky]

18. All you ever bring to a discussion is personal attacks.

How pathetic.

[Hannah Bell]

19. i learned from the pros. like yourself.

didn't realize y'all had a whole forum of your own to practice in.

[trotsky]

20. So that's it?

Your comeback is, "I know you are but what am I?"

I repeat - pathetic. :rofl:

[Hannah Bell]

21. didn't realize it was a contest. what's your prize?