- Humanity+ publicly listed DIYbio as a core mission for the first time, signaling institutional recognition of grassroots biotechnology (link: altaloman.posterous.com post on “management of emerging technologies”).  
- Discussion of DIY chemistry infrastructure: a new wiki (diychem.org) aims to complement the long-standing ScienceMadness forum, with participants noting the forum’s hostility to real-time chat due to perceived legal risks.  
- Nabsys was highlighted as another company entering the commercial nanopore-based DNA-sequencing space, expanding the competitive landscape beyond Oxford Nanopore.  
- Open-source hardware efforts mentioned include printable field-effect transistors and OLEDs fabricated on a MakerBot (Columbia Laboratory for Unconventional Electronics, Thingiverse design #5141, presentation by Mr. Kim & Sarik).  
- Community interest in low-cost PCR: openpcr.org and Bryant University’s DIY thermocycler project (web.bryant.edu/~bblais/projects/cycler/) were cited as existing but imperfect solutions.  
- Advice exchanged on approaching academic researchers for commercialization: recommended tactics range from direct email to attending conferences, with emphasis on post-docs being more responsive than tenured faculty.  
- Microfluidics commercialization debate: MIT’s Biostream project (groups.csail.mit.edu/cag/biostream/) already partners with Microsoft, yet DIYbio members pursue modular, Lego-like microfluidic kits.  
- Hackerspace sustainability brainstorm: participants floated subsidizing rent by manufacturing RepRap or other open-hardware parts in-house.