- Kickstarter quietly added a new rule banning projects from offering genetically modified organisms as rewards; participants debate whether this will meaningfully chill open-source biology crowdfunding or whether alternative funding routes (direct email lists, other platforms) are sufficient.  
- nmz787 reports that the open-source “NanoDrop-like” spectrophotometer project is largely complete: the mixed-signal PCB schematic is done and layout is in progress; optics are simple “if the Chinese company didn’t ship a plastic slug,” but he still wants an experienced mixed-signal engineer to review the board before ordering.  
- yashgaroth notes that a major donor has demanded removal of ~90 % of the lab’s equipment (including the only working –80 °C freezer and floor centrifuge) after a personal dispute, illustrating the fragility of community labs that rely on single benefactors.  
- fredox observes that the published gene sequence for “OpenTaq” polymerase is 59 % GC, which exceeds Taq’s recommended template limit (~50 %), making the enzyme an ironic and unreliable target for its own PCR-based gene synthesis tests; alternatives with more balanced GC content are being sought.  
- kanzure shares a DIY gel-illumination guide (tequals0.wordpress.com) and a personal GitHub gist (5558267) containing a Python commit-cleaner script, emphasizing the need to archive small but useful biohacking utilities outside single machines.  
- anannie posts photos of a three-wheeled Lego dragster built without a differential, prompting discussion on bearing upgrades and power scaling; the exchange highlights the channel’s encouragement of iterative hardware prototyping.  
- AshleyWaffle links a YouTube demo of a soda-can Stirling engine running at 860 rpm, leading anannie to question the thermodynamic intuition behind the cycle—underscoring the group’s habit of dissecting even simple DIY energy devices.  
- tomkinsc uses paperbot to retrieve a Springer journal article on plant molecular biology, demonstrating the channel’s routine use of automated paywall bypass for open-access literature.