• A $200 k gift earmarked for a “personal MEMS lab” triggered a reality-check discussion: true MEMS fabrication (photolithography, spin-coating, sputtering, doping ovens, FIB) is orders of magnitude more complex and expensive than the laser-cutting / micro-milling / EDM tools the donor envisioned, and the community urged starting with Jeri Ellsworth’s home-semiconductor videos and Ben Fleming’s EDM book before spending anything.

• A 2002 paper was spotlighted showing that an engineered adenovirus can make human cells synthesize the cryoprotectant trehalose from glucose, opening a gene-therapy route to improve both cryonics and organ-transplant preservation—yet no current cryonics protocol uses this approach.

• Debate over nootropic safety with the antidepressant bupropion concluded that bupropion’s dopamine/norepinephrine reuptake profile resembles amphetamines and has no documented major interactions with common racetams, but individual stacks still need case-by-case vetting.

• Practical equipment advice for a small lab included skipping a $200 k Focused Ion Beam system, budgeting for chemical waste disposal, and considering Cowells manual watch-making lathes/mills (~$3 k each) while searching for CNC-controlled tabletop equivalents; industrial vendors rarely publish prices, so forming a small corporation was recommended to obtain quotes.

• Ultra-precision fabrication options discussed: 3- or 4-axis piezo-driven nanometer positioning tables, diamond-turning lathes (>$1 M), and CNC lapping capable of sub-nanometer surface finish; mechanical machining is ultimately limited by crystal grain size of cutting tools, pushing interest toward lithographic or MEMS routes.

• Open-source lithography and CMOS fabrication were framed as scalable, batch-friendly ways to create custom MEMS and multi-electrode neural interfaces with on-chip circuitry and high-speed serial output.

• An open-source FPGA—even a modest one—was proposed as a high-value project that hobbyists would crowdfund, though final chip manufacturing would likely be outsourced.

• Broader policy argument: FDA approval expenses, physician cartel pricing, and patent monopolies—not liability insurance—are the dominant cost drivers making gene therapy far more expensive than traditional drugs.