Hello,

Well, I am fairly new to the Biopunk society as far as meeting people and beginning experiments. So I'm not the best in science either, but I am a quick learner and I'm thinking it would be fun to try this out. I'm looking to find equipment and new ideas to play around with until I become more advanced. If there are any books, or kits, good for beginners, please do mention them in your reply and I will be forever grateful (: Also, if you have any techniques or advice, do share!

Happy new year and thanks so much!

-Punkette.

Welcome to the forum. I would first spend some time just browsing around some of the diy science communities. DIYbio is a mailing list that is good for setting up meetings with projects. You can also find chats on irc.freenet.net (The channels are #biopunk and #hplusroadmap).

Used equipment is expensive, but can be found online or locally through universities, surplus auctions, and recently closed small science companies/labs. Various types of kits can be found online but pricing depends on what kind of kit your looking for.

As far as reading goes, there is quite a bit of free reading material online:
A Primer on Synthetic Biology
Extreme Genetic Engineering
Also check used bookstores good deals. I recently pick up this book used. If I had to only recommend one book it would probably be this book. There's a entire series most of which can be found used. Also consider a text book or two.

For protocols, keep an eye on Protocol Online and OpenWetWare

Are you interested in any particular aspect? Anyways, good luck.



(first post 09!)

I agree with rallodc45. In case you are in school and want to biohack the best way to go is probably to find a way to do it there.

Garage biology involves a lot of trial and error at his point. Like with the GFP yogurt, the first time someone makes it it's not easy. The second time maybe there is a protocol and someone to ask. Right now everyone is doing their hacking for the first time.

The 'How do I get started?' question common and it's a valid one. There is no good answer right now I think. There many discussions about it in the diybio google group.

Last year biohacking was complicated enough for me not to participate. I was/am more of a hangaround when it came to this. I think a lot of people are like me. Stuff that's difficult now will be much easier 2 years. I have a lot of respect for Meredith(of diybio) & co... the trailblazers.


neat ; )

-dR

I to am trying to fumble my way as a newb to biohacking. So Good Luck! I just found that Itunes under Itunes U has alot of online courses from various well-known colleges. (I.E. M.I.T., and U.C. Berkley) Its all free and free is good. All I did was a search on biology.

There are people working on gene/biobrick-system editors like this one called Tinkercell. There are a couple like it out there.



Tinkercell illustrates what tools are being developed by individuals(biohackers if you will) right now. Software can take away a lot of the guesswork and stop one from making the simpler mistakes. It's a pointer to the future. We're not completely there yet... but it is F**king cool.

-Splicer

The best way would be to find a group, either on or offline. Preferrably pursuing real wetlab projects.

The primer and extreme genetic biology are nice introductions to the idea, but not necessarily the practice of biohacking. You might want to look up actual protocols on http://www.openwetware.org as well.

the best tool u can possibly have is the thirst for knowledge and the willpower and determination of a scientist. after that a little research will be needed to understand fully the practice of GE aka Biopunk.
Try using Genbank for searching for any information on certain genes in most organisms.