April 21, 2014

BioCoder Article Looks at Washington's Growing Interest in DIYbio

Dr. Todd Kuiken of the Synthetic Biology Project has an article in the Spring 2014 issue of BioCoder, a quarterly newsletter from O'Reilly that covers DIYbio and synthetic biology. Kuiken's article looks at the increased scrutiny on the DIYbio from Washington.

"The DIYbio movement, and the larger citizen science movement, presents an interesting dichotomy for the US government," Kuiken writes. "On the one hand, it wants to support the movement in order to promote innovation; on the other hand, there are legitimate biosecurity, biosafety, and environmental concerns that raise public policy and public perception issues. Like it or not, the community has a spotlight on it, and while the movement has its supporters within the government, there are those who are looking for ways to limit its ability to flourish and, in some instances, shut it down completely. By engaging directly with the government, the community can build supporters, adapt to their concerns early, and control the narrative around DIYbio."

The first three issues of BioCoder can be downloaded here with registration.