Hobby biologists tinker with stuff of life

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-26  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Apple computer was invented in a garage. Same with the Google search engine. Now, tinkerers are working at home with the basic building blocks of life.

Using homemade lab equipment and the wealth of scientific knowledge available online, these hobbyists are trying to create new life forms through genetic engineering - a field long dominated by PhDs toiling in university and corporate laboratories.

In her San Francisco dining room lab, for example, 31-year-old United States computer programmer Meredith L. Patterson is trying to develop genetically altered yogurt bacteria that will glow green to signal the presence of melamine.

"People can really work on projects for the good of humanity while learning about something they want to learn about in the process," she said.

So far, no major gene-splicing discoveries have come out of anybody's garage. But critics of the movement worry these amateurs could one day unleash an environmental or medical disaster. Defenders say the future Bill Gates of biotech could be developing a cure for cancer in the garage.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a group called DIYbio is setting up a community lab where the public could use chemicals and lab equipment.

Many of these amateurs may have studied biology in college but have no advanced degrees and are not earning a living in the biotechnology field. Some proudly call themselves "biohackers" - innovators who push technological boundaries and put the spread of knowledge before profits.