Hacking BioTech for Fun, Profit and Resilience

There's a revolution going on in biotech.  The market for biotech is booming (from drugs to products) and it's getting much less expensive to do.  How much less expensive? The cost of the equipment needed to build a functional lab has dropped to something an individual can afford to put in their basement.  That's GREAT news for those of us thinking about a resilient future.

A recent discussion on Twitter with Dr. Rob Carlson yielded some sharp insight how biospaces (shared biolabs at the local level) might impact resilience.  It was so good I immediately thought I'd share it my compatriots on Global Guerrillas.  

I've pointed to Rob's work on rates of productivity growth in biotech, aptly named "Carlson Curves" before.  It's great analysis.  He also runs an informative blog.   For example:  Check out this tour of well appointed biolab in a silicon valley garage from a couple of years ago.  Anyway, enough introductions, onto the discussion.  If you haven't read a twitter message before, the message begins with who the message is to.

@rob_carlson Hey Rob, what's the status of garage bio and/or biohacking spaces?
@johnrobb Well, *my* garage bio lab is bumping along. Hard to say how widespread they are. Have visited many, but no good systematic data.

@johnrobb @genspacenyc and @biocuriouslab seem to be thriving. Also a lab in LA, and perhaps one starting in DC area. Depends on people.

@johnrobb The FBI/#DIYbio workshops are always full, but not clear how many attendees are actually hacking.

@rob_carlson Very cool. Thanks. Any predictions for the future of DIY bio?

@johnrobb As costs fall, and skills are easier to come by more, people will play. Also lots more start-ups. The economic incentive is huge.

@johnrobb Would also expect continued networking of garages and community labs to produce something interesting eventually.

@rob_carlson Nice. So micro-venture incubators + local biolabs = very valuable economic hub for resilient communities?

@johnrobb Community labs = community infrastructure. Infrastructure always lowers costs for those who have access, which leads to growth.

@johnrobb Yes. But I don't see the community lab "incubators" as revenue generating. Should probably be loss leader for innovation.

@johnrobb Healthcare/drugs are prob not first place for garage innovation to make an impact.

@johnrobb Indust apps and markets (fuels/enzymes/materials/etc) are much easier to access, almost no regs so lower cost.

@rob_carlson Got it. Seems like hackerspaces have cracked the model thought (they are growing like weeds). Why not biospaces?

@johnrobb They are thriving as non-profits. They are paying the bills. I don't believe there is enough margin to make a biz out of it.

@johnrobb Would love to be wrong about that. But I tried to sort out a for profit bio-incubator model 10 yrs ago. Numbers didn't work.

@johnrobb Charging membership, compensating hourly for teaching classes works. But hard to grow, hard to meet cost of capital.

@johnrobb Reagents cost money, and lab gear (even used) is often more expensive than hardware hacking gear. Happy to be proved wrong, tho.

@rob_carlson Got it. I suspect the big problem is that the commercialization of any biolab innovation usually isn't a small scale effort.

@johnrobb True in past. "Biotech" used to mean drugs or crops. But now industrial apps are bigger, growing faster. Industrial biotech revenues are already $110 billion

@rob_carlson In contrast, I can sell a product made/prototyped in a hackerspace right now.

@johnrobb As industrial biotech is mostly unregulated, I would expect lower cost to market, more rapid commercialization. --> Hypothesis.

@johnrobb If you can get a product going in your garage biology lab for an unregulated market, you are set. Biofuel? Plastic? Who knows?

@rob_carlson  Thanks buddy.

 

Next step is to analyze the template for creating local biospaces:

@genspacenycNYC
The first community biolab in NYC! Come say hi and learn to design new organisms! (We're not kidding)  http://www.genspace.org

@biocuriouslab      Sunnyvale, CA
BioCurious? Experiment with friends! A Bay Area hackerspace for #biotech, equipped for professional science and #DIYbio. Join at biocurious.org!