Genomikon biohack kit gives school children first taste of synthetic biology

A kit from Genonikon can give school children a taste of synthetic biology. The kit contains "color expression cassettes blue gene (AmilCP, sequence taken from a chromoprotein made by the coral Acropora millepora), a yellow gene (the classic green fluorescent protein, which is yellow under natural light, from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria), and a red gene (red fluorescent protein, an engineered mutant of GFP)."

"The plasmid parts feature a split vector, with the origin of replication separated from the antibiotic selection marker. This allows placement of the origin at the beginning of the construct, and the selection at the end, helping ensure a complete error-free assembly."

The colors produced by the genes supplied with the kit all glow under ultraviolet light.

Bioprinting overview at Economist Ideas

An introduction to 3D bioprinting for regenerative medicine and consumer applications from the Economist Ideas Conference at Berkeley on March 28, 2012.

3D Printed labware

http://www.nature.com/news/homegrown-labware-made-with-3d-printer-1.10453

Armed with a three-dimensional (3D) printer and the type of silicone-based sealant typically used for bathrooms, researchers have demonstrated a novel way to control chemical reactions: by making the reaction vessel an integral part of the experiment itself.

London DIYBio

Suggestion to meet at the London Hackspace, every Wed evening, at 7PM, for what is described as "A brief weekly catchup meeting of the biohacking group as we're starting to build up some basic DIYBio infrastructure"

Biocurious

BioCurious, a 2,500-square-feet community lab in an office building in Sunnyvale, CA, opened in November as a place where scientists, entrepreneurs and others can meet to conduct biology experiments and innovate on everything from bacteria to thermal cyclers. The facility also offers classes on topics ranging from DNA sequencing to microfluidics.

This is what you might encounter if you were to join a biohacker space such as Biocurious:

"Biotech 101 is part of our Biotech Boot Camp series. Biotechnology 101A (PCR) and 101B (Cloning & Sequencing) will teach you what you need to know to do a small biotech project of your own or introduce you to basic techniques we “lab rats” use during the day!"

 Is this starting to happen in the UK?