Presented at:

* DIYBIO meetup in Vienna after Biofiction 2014-10-27

By:

Martin Malthe Borch

@MMBorch

Mmborch.dk

Comments and Questions for

DIYbio & Citizen Science

Collected from a diybio workshop at the SNET conference 2014

(The Society for the Study of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies)

Outline

About Me

Comments from SNET

DIYbio & Design

Living design & Architecture

About Me

My training and diybio projects

M.Sc.Biological EngineeringTechnical University of Denmark, DTU

Master in Interaction DesignCopenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, CIID

Researcher: Interaction Design, Art & Biotechnology

IT-University of Copenhagen, Communication, Games & Interaction Design

…alternatives to University Science & Research

Learn and do science in the same way you

learn and play in open passion driven

associations.-- OPEN to everyone, regardless of your occupation..

What if you could...

Creative and fun learning

Designing biotechnological tools for use in

everyday life

Biotech brought out of labs to solve everyday challenges and problems

@Biologigaragen.org#DIYbio

#OpenAccess

#OpenScience

Get your hands on science once a month

Biologigaragen.org

Group Experiment Nights

Open Access Microbes

Kulturkollektionen

SNET

Workshop about antibiotics and horisontal gene transfer

+

Debate session about diybio and the experiences gained in the workshop.

Workshop at SNETIn collaboration with Rüdiger Trojok, Nora Vaage & Ana M. Delgado

SNET

Questions and comments from participants:

Amoug them many Scientist and practitioners in STS (Science and Technology Studies)

and TA (Technology Assessment)

“ Quotes or written comments from workshop and panel discussion participants” [sic]

Form

Personal reflections, comments and conclusions

“Participating in this workshop session gave a firm confirmation “you can

do it outside institutions”, there are other methods.“ [sic]

“I didn’t know about diybio or biohacking. After this workshop and

presentation, I know what it is about and I can discuss it”

Successful Approach

“ How do you interpret the precautionary principle?”

“ Science and tech are a dynamic process, we need to deal with that. But we have to install

systems or tools or simply pay attention to the early warnings, and take them serious, the real

damage is when the early warning is ignored, eg agent orange, DDT and others. This includes

transparency, participation and democratization. ”

“ The Unintended consequences are always the worst and the longest lasting. ”

“ Citizenship comes with duties. ”

“ How do you deal with Responsiblity ? ”

ResponsibilityComments on DIYBIO

* Good idea to always reference our earlier safety discussion and the code of ethics

* Let’s answer these questions together…

License, Rules & Guidelines

* Should we develop and share guidelines and systems for licenses ?

“ You say that there should be more freedom, without licenses and regulations, but at the

same time you use your own academic career or training as a license to argue that you

should be able to do this and work on this, isn’t that a paradox or contradiction? ”

“ I am worried for you and your community. the community might need rules or

guidelines, problems will arise, you need rules. ”

“ For a car the citizen needs a license, do we need a diy-bio license? A crash

course/induction as requirement for use? Why/why not? ”

“ Are you prepared to pay for damages in case of accidents ? e.g. the neighbour child

plays with samples and get sick. ”

Inclusivity and Welcoming Critique

* Include the TA community

* Don’t make the same mistakes as “university experts”

“ TA [technology assessment] are shifting to take more part , and be participatory. They

try to introduce framing and language, add to the debate and learn hands-on ”

“ It is difficult to mobilize people or the general public when they deliberately have been

excluded from earlier science or tech discussions because the ‘experts’ want to be the

‘experts’ “

“ I trust a lot more an open participatory and transparent community than I trust government

regulators, but only if they have common values that go beyond the technology and development

itself. The priority should always be your neighbour and the society, not the technology, if not it’s

not possible to keep good safe and ethical practice when they scale. ”

“ Why did you skip the Code of ethics ? that was really essential. ”

Ethics & Values

* Present or mention the code of ethics. It’s always relevant, even though you/we

think that we already had that discussion.

Draft DIYbio Code of Ethics from European Congress

DIYbio community meeting in London May 2011, diybio.org/codes

Transparency Emphasize transparency and the sharing of ideas, knowledge, data and results.

Safety Adopt safe practices.

Open Access Promote citizen science and decentralized access to biotechnology.

Education Help educate the public about biotechnology, its benefits and implications.

Modesty Know you don’t know everything.

Community Carefully listen to any concerns and questions and respond honestly.

Peaceful Purposes Biotechnology must only be used for peaceful purposes.

Respect Respect humans and all living systems.

Responsibility Recognize the complexity and dynamics of living systems and our responsibility towards them.

Accountability Remain accountable for your actions and for upholding this code.

“ What’s the aim of DIYbio ? ”

“ so many questions are left open, what about government interest, FBI, regulation ? ”

“ Does citizen science also equal better science ? ”

“ Autonomy vs. Community - what’s your practices, values and why ”

“ What are the aims, goals & objectives of the movement. ”

Other Questions

* We should try to answer all these questions and comments together, globally and in EU-

context.

* Always present the code of Ethics. It’s always relevant

* Include the experts

* Should we develop a diybio-license? What is good systems & guidelines?

What happens in the lab…

* Be Humble, you are dealing with nature and people and everybody's future

Summary

Design

My Projects

Aesthetics

Users

DIY

My Projects

Exhibition at the Medical Museion of Copenhagen

A collaboration between Martin Malthe Borch,

Rüdiger Trojok & Medical Museion

BioHacking: Do-It-Yourself

Art Science Collaboration

IT University of Copenhagen

In collaboration with Laura Beloff

A Bioreactor

Biostrike !

A diybio/citizen science project to find new antibiotics

A Collaboration with Pieter Van Boheemen, Waag.

http://is.gd/Biostrike

http://is.gd/Biostrike

Biostrike !

A diybio/citizen science experimental competition to find new antibiotics

http://is.gd/Biostrike

Medico-bio project. Startet in Copenhagen by Malthe & Pieter. International open collaboration and all over the world.Worrkshops in Tel Aviv, Singapore, Educate - Tech Science and discuss methods currently used.

Baessy

Open source tools & assays for citizen science.

http://biologigaragen.org/baessy/

Open Source Ethanol sensing fermentor.

A Collaboration between an industrial researcher

and a DIYbio space.

http://biologigaragen.org/baessy

Kopenlab

Citizen Science Festival as part of Science in the

city during ESOF2014

Videos, blogs, pictures @ www.kopenlab.dk

Kopenlab.dk

Comments on design and aesthetics of DIYbio

My comments on other projects

Bentolab

Pay attention to the details. Who are you designing for? Hackers build it them

selves. Who’s your user and what are the user scenarios?

* Why is it orange ? Is it dangerous ?

* Why is it built together and not in separate parts ? for flexibility ? cleaning ?

* Where do you imagine that it will be used, by whom, and how ?

http://www.bento.bio/

Who Are The Users Of DIYbio?

Who do you imagine your costomer is and who is actually your “customer”:

• Funding agencies

• Fellow biohackers

• Politicians

• Parents

• Urban Gardening Communities

• Home Brewers

• Fermentation Enthusiasts

• Urban Environment and indoor climate enthusiasts schools ect.

A Greater Movement

Be aware of everything that happened before DIYbio…

Biodesign

My Past, Current & Future Research

- Living Architecture & Living Design

Næringsbiblioteket / The Resource Library

- The future energy producing waste water treatment plant

1st Prize Winner in collaboration with GXN-3XN Architects. Århusvand Idea Competition

Integrating Biotechnology and Architecture

Mallorca* VERD

An architectural sketch project GXN-3XN

Integrating living biology, water recirculation and biological wastewater

treatment in the design of a hotel and conference center in Mallorca, Spain.

Art Science Collaboration

IT-University of Copenhagen

In Collaboration with Laura Beloff

A Bioreactor

An Interactive Art-Science Installation

A unisex urinal that gives information about your body

and generates power from your pee

With interaction designer Cristina Muñoz

www.urinejourney.com

Urine Journey