{"id":1043,"date":"2020-05-28T15:07:40","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T14:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/28\/diy-biohackers-are-editing-genes-in-garages-and-kitchens\/"},"modified":"2020-05-28T15:07:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T14:07:40","slug":"diy-biohackers-are-editing-genes-in-garages-and-kitchens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/28\/diy-biohackers-are-editing-genes-in-garages-and-kitchens\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Biohackers Are Editing Genes in Garages and Kitchens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  width=\"580\" height=\"385\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s5s1uqI5HmY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>With the latest breakthroughs in the life sciences, who needs a lab or degree?<br \/>\n&#8212;-<br \/>\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: <a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/reasontv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/youtube.com\/reasontv<\/a><br \/>\nLike us on Facebook: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Reason.Magaz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Reason.Magaz<\/a>&#8230;<br \/>\nFollow us on Twitter: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/reason\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/reason<\/a><br \/>\nSubscribe to our podcast at iTunes: <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/az3a7a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/goo.gl\/az3a7a<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Reason is the planet&#8217;s leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won&#8217;t get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.<br \/>\n&#8212;&#8211;<br \/>\n&#8220;A biohacker for me is somebody who is doing something clever or interesting in biology,&#8221; says Josiah Zayner, a molecular biophysicist who runs The ODIN, a company that sells do-it-yourself genetic engineering kits. &#8220;They&#8217;re usually these people that have been fucked by the system who are trying to unfuck themselves.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Zayner is one of the leading figures in the biohacking movement and is the main organizer of the BioHack the Planet Conference, a yearly gathering of citizen scientists. This year, over 100 members of the biohacking community met in Oakland, California to discuss a wide array of issues from at-home genetic engineering to questions on bioethics.<\/p>\n<p>Biohackers have often been compared to computer hackers of the 1980s, but instead of breaking into and manipulating information technology systems, they&#8217;re focused on hacking living organisms with the hopes of curing illnesses and in some cases obtaining superhuman powers.<\/p>\n<p>Their shared mission is to put this technology into the hands of as many people as possible.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People should be able to use all the technologies that science develops,&#8221; says Zayner. &#8220;It shouldn&#8217;t just be patented and given to companies or exclusively given to certain people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>These do-it-yourself biologists say the democratization of science has given them the freedom to do work on projects that are often ignored by larger institutions. They&#8217;re using gene editing technologies like CRISPR to create personalized treatments for those suffering from rare diseases or cancer, reverse engineering pharmaceuticals like Epi-Pens so people can make their own medicine at home, and even creating glow in the dark beer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think this is the most exciting time thus far in the history of the world to be alive with respect to what we can and will do with life forms,&#8221; says Hank Greely, the director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford University.<\/p>\n<p>But breakthroughs in the world of biohacking are drawing more scrutiny from federal regulators. Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration began placing restrictions on non-human genetic modifications and declared that genetically edited animals must be classified as drugs. This gives the agency broad authority over a number of do-it-yourself genetics tests and requires experiments involving animals to go through the same vetting process as a new drug.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I guess they couldn&#8217;t call them cosmetics and they couldn&#8217;t call them foods, so they&#8217;re like dogs are drugs,&#8221; states David Ishee, a Mississippi canine breeder who is working on editing out genetic diseases in dogs. &#8220;Everybody&#8217;s worried about what someone could do with this technology and nobody seems to care about the damage that not doing it will cause because these animals are dying.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Increasing regulation could undermine biohacking breakthroughs for humans as well.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a huge fan of deregulation because I believe in the inherent goodness of capitalism,&#8221; says Zayner. &#8220;Stuff doesn&#8217;t progress unless people do useful things with it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Produced by Alexis Garcia and Justin Monticello. Camera by Garcia, Monticello, and Zach Weissmueller.<\/p>\n<p>Ascent by Jon Luc Hefferman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)<\/a> Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Jon_Luc_Hefferman\/Production_Music_1841\/Ascent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Jon_Luc_Hefferman\/Production_Music_1841\/Ascent<\/a> Artist: <a href=\"http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Jon_Luc_Hefferman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Jon_Luc_Hefferman\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cut and Run &#8211; Electronic Hard by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)<\/a> Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/incompetech.com\/music\/royalty-free\/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100851\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/incompetech.com\/music\/royalty-free\/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100851<\/a> Artist: <a href=\"http:\/\/incompetech.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/incompetech.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>New Dawn by Bensound is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)<\/a> Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/royalty-free-music\/cinematic\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/royalty-free-music\/cinematic\/2<\/a> Artist: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sci-Fi by Bensound is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)<\/a> Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/royalty-free-music\/electronica\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/royalty-free-music\/electronica<\/a> Artist: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.bensound.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wake Up by Kai Engel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/)<\/a> Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Kai_Engel\/The_Scope\/Kai_Engel_-_The_Scope_-_06_Wake_Up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Kai_Engel\/The_Scope\/Kai_Engel_-_The_Scope_-_06_Wake_Up<\/a> Artist: <a href=\"http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Kai_Engel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/freemusicarchive.org\/music\/Kai_Engel\/<\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=s5s1uqI5HmY\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the latest breakthroughs in the life sciences, who needs a lab or degree? &#8212;- Subscribe to our YouTube channel:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8,6,5,4,10,11,9,7,689,920],"class_list":["post-1043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-hacking-bio-engineering-videos","tag-bio-hack","tag-bioengineering","tag-biohacker","tag-biohacking","tag-biohacking-crispr","tag-biohacking-diet","tag-biohacking-kit","tag-biological-engineering","tag-genome","tag-genome-editing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biohackbase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}