Links
Very incomplete. Please add to this!
Biohackerspaces
This is a very short and incomplete list. There is an overly complete, but not updated, list at DIYbiosphere and you can find the raw data here. There is also a list on diybio.org which probably isn't up to date either and you can always check out the hackerspaces.org wiki which lists a large percentage of all global hackerspaces, makerspaces, fablabs and similar.
- BioCurious - Santa Clara, CA, USA
- Large, well-equipped and long-running biohackerspace
- Experiment with friends!
- Counter Culture Labs - Oakland, CA, USA (Our space!)
- Events free. $80 per month. Sponsored free memberships available
- GaudiLabs - Lucerne, Switzerland
- GaudiLabs is now a for profit LLC that sells products. Everything is open source/hardware. Unclear if it is a private space or open to new members / drop-in visitors.
- HackteriaLab - Zürich, Switzerland
- The lab space is part of the Bitwäscherei hackerspace collective
- Kaouenn-Noz - Rennes, Brittany, France
Chats
- Maybe the most active biohacking chat?
- Chat and virtual meetup about open lab automation
- There is also a bridge from Discord but it doesn't seem to be perfect
- Intersection of biohacking and transhumanism
Online and in-person communities
- The oldest and probably biggest mailing list for biohacking. Not much traffic but a lot of people listening.
- Molecular biology forum. Not super active.
- A community and unconference around Open Science Hardware
- There are several regional GOSH groups such as AfricaOSH and reGOSH which covers Latin America and the Caribbean
- A global network of people, a a a wiki and a physical lab
- The physical lab is located in Zurich as part of the Bitwäscherei hackerspace collective.
- An online community focused on environmental community science
- An annual gathering of people working on biohacking and biohackerspaces
- An online platform where a bunch of community projects are hosted but appears offline as of this writing (February 2023)
Individual biohackers - Blogs, vlogs, tubers, etc.
- Abizar Lakdawalla on YouTube
- Instructions for DIY lab hardware, including electrophoresis box, tissue culture hood, heater block, and monochromator. Also lab hardware teardowns and repairs.
- A plant biohacker. Also does some bio hardware hacking. Very active on twitter
- Periodically sells various open plasmids and other wetware.
- Some dude calling himself "DIY Biotech" has a YouTube channel
- Some interesting stuff but also published a video about NFTs :(
- Free molecular biology courses, open hardware and wetware designs, info on low-tech plasmid/strain storage, etc.
- Also has a YouTube channel
- Mostly focused on C. Elegans but has generally interesting stuff
- e.g. Using LEDs as a low cost source to detect GFP and DsRED
Protocols
- Lots of protocols on cloning, PCR, phages, sequencing, freezing strains and more.
- Protocols for DNA extractions, gel electrophoresis, PCR and sequencing
Software
- Calculate Tm and other oligo properties
- The official release no longer runs or builds on modern systems so this is an unofficial update
Where to buy
Reagents, hardware, services, etc.
Hardware
- Brick Labware - Frisco, Texas, USA
- 3D printed labware. Mostly tube holders but a few other interesting things.
- Gaudi Labs Shop - Lucerne, Switzerland
- Open Electrowetting system (OpenDrop), Spectrophotometer (fiber, visible only), G-code to analog converter, all open hardware
- IO Rodeo - Pasadena, California, USA
- Open Hardware Colorimeter and Potentiostats
- The Odin - Austin, Texas, USA
- Nice selection of hardware, wetware and reagents. Ships to individuals. Banned from Germany (I think)
Services
Reagents
Sells to anyone
Requires commercial address
Requires more than just commercial address
Fabrication services
Lasercutting
Note that PCB manufacturing companies will sell metal solder paste stencils which might be usuable if only thin metal is required.
- Plastic, wood, rubber, leather, fabrics, cardboard, paper
- A bit pricey but local to Oakland
- Instant online quote generation
- oshcut - Metal only lasercutting
- Great choice of materials
- Up to 1" steel and aluminum! Some materials limited to about 0.13" thickness
- Affordable with instant quote generation