- A new, crowdsourced “better DIYbio FAQ” is under construction at http://diyhpl.us/wiki/diybio/faq/better-questions, collecting beginner questions such as sourcing pLux plasmids, gene insertion without PCR, and the cheapest “hello-world” genetic-engineering experiment, organized into topical sections on gels, transformation, thermocycling, and equipment.

- Classic entry-level projects—engineering E. coli to glow with Vibrio fischeri lux genes, making cacti bioluminesce, and building iGEM-style bacterial circuits—remain the most popular first goals for newcomers, highlighting GFP/luminescence as a persistent gateway to DIY biology.

- Practical sourcing and legality questions dominated the channel: which suppliers (Carolina Biological, Transcriptic, etc.) ship reagents and ready-made plasmids to non-institutional addresses, and whether home-built PCR rigs like the “PersonalPCR” from Templeman Automation are reliable enough for routine use.

- The entire 4.3 GB LabAutopedia archive was mirrored with wget after concerns about link rot; highlights include 1970s microplate loop sterilizers that used propane burners and the surprising origin of the 96-well microplate in the eight-track-cassette industry.

- A high-resolution open-source laser-etcher project is in early planning, targeting micron-level precision via 0.9° stepper motors (SparkFun #10846) and micro-stages, with a possible 3-person hackathon in Austin to accelerate development.

- The canonical DIYbio FAQ is being migrated from OpenWetWare to a new diyhpluswiki repository to escape registration bottlenecks; the move is tracked with Git (git log --follow diybio/faq.mdwn) to preserve authorship and justify the fork, though it has sparked debate over historical credit and community governance.

- Community infrastructure gaps were noted: diybio.org and the Google Group lack curated biology learning links, biopunk.org has been dormant for ~8 months, and neither offers the structured onboarding that the new FAQ aims to provide.