• The 1970s “Rat Park” experiment was cited as evidence that environmental enrichment dramatically reduces morphine self-administration in rats, challenging the validity of addiction studies performed in isolated cages and underscoring the need for ecologically realistic animal models.

• Participants enumerated an expanding catalog of human DNA modifications—5-methyl-cytosine (5mC), 5-hydroxy-methyl-cytosine (5hmC), 5-formyl-cytosine (5fC), and 5-carboxyl-cytosine (5caC)—and noted that PacBio SMRT sequencing is one of the few single-molecule platforms capable of reading these marks, complicating the notion of a single “complete” human genome.

• Longevity molecules under active discussion included C60-olive-oil (mouse lifespan extension), GDF-11 (young-blood reversal of cardiac hypertrophy), and NAD+ precursors, with the group urging caution until larger replication studies are completed.

• Experimental neuro-enhancers NSI-189 (neurogenesis inducer) and P7C3-A20 (neuroprotective compound) were proposed as a potential stack for large-scale brain growth, tempered by warnings that newborn neurons transiently disrupt existing memory networks.

• Single-cell epigenomics was projected to generate ~10 GB floating-point methylation matrices per cell—three orders of magnitude larger than current SNP maps—raising urgent questions about data compression and baseline definition.

• Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBEM) and citizen-science platform EyeWire (>150 000 players since 2012) were highlighted as key tools for high-resolution 3-D brain mapping, with links to Max Planck fly connectome datasets.

• A Science paper (doi:10.1126/science.1246794) was discussed that identifies phage tail–like arrays from Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea as the trigger for metamorphosis in the tubeworm Hydroides elegans, revealing a novel bacterium-animal interaction mechanism.

• Practical barriers to DIY biology were debated, including the absence of a centralized low-cost reagent marketplace and supplier reluctance driven by US civil-liability and DEA concerns, with Armadillo Aerospace’s abandonment of hydrogen-peroxide propellants cited as a cautionary hardware example.

• A proposed web-app business model would rent remote access to a focused-ion-beam (FIB) or SEM system at ~$5–6 per minute, offering autofocus and safeguards for novice users, while a 7 T research MRI in San Francisco and Ben Krasnow’s DIY MRI experiments were offered as additional imaging resources.

• DIY CT/X-ray scanner projects were praised for automated reverse-engineering superior to laser scanning, with suggestions to use multi-exposure angles to boost dynamic range and enlarge detector screens for arbitrary resolution; synchrotron tomography achieving cellular-level tick imaging and potential non-invasive reading of iron-pigmented historical books were noted as future cultural-heritage applications.