As the tools for exploring and manipulating biological genetic material becoming faster, better, and cheaper, we find the desire to play with biology is increasingly fascinating. Much like the personal computer revolution of the 1970’s and 80’s, power and capability that had previously been only in the domain of the scientific priesthood was now available to anyone with an interest in the topic.
For this show we speak with two researchers in the world of DIY BIO, Ryan Bethencourt and Nina DiPrimio, editors of a new O’Reilly publication about this burgeoning field, Biocoder. We speak about the promise and dangers of genetic manipulation and what experiments are actually being done now by children, such as creating glowing plants, using genetic circuitry from fireflies.
