- A visual primer on venture financing (http://dlopuch.github.io/venture-dealr/) and NASA’s Technology Transfer “startup” portal (http://www.technology.nasa.gov/startup) were highlighted as resources for bio-founders seeking to license aerospace or biotech IP and navigate fundraising.

- DNA synthesis dominated technical discussion: participants proposed replacing phosphoramidite chemistry with DNA ligase and natural repair enzymes (2015 Nobel work), sketched a “mag-tape” library of 100-billion-bp repeats for on-demand primer amplification, and debated open-source hardware designs for MEMS femtoliter inkjet DNA/RNA/protein printers.

- A living project list (http://diyhpl.us/wiki/dna/projects/) catalogs low-cost DNA-printer applications such as lactose-intolerance microbes, on-demand spider-silk, and biosensors, while a POSAM microarrayer cost-breakdown (PMC507883) and solvent-handling notes for 3-methoxypropionitrile were shared to lower DIY lab costs.

- Participants envisioned next-gen bio-interfaces: octopus chromatophore skin as a real-time display of neural-plasticity maps, bacterial nanowires (extruded iron “wires”) to connect genetic circuits to CMOS, and optogenetic “plug-and-play” cell–silicon hybrids that self-assemble to membranes.

- Foresight Institute nanotech links (artificial molecular machines, addressable machines in porous crystals, George Church’s cadnano demo) and NASA/Georgia Tech extremophile ribosome research were circulated as design inspiration for engineered ribosomes and non-diamondoid molecular manufacturing.

- A rational-protein-design shortcut was proposed: chaining small, predictable protein “LEGO blocks” with glycine linkers to bypass the full folding problem and achieve fast, deterministic self-assembly.

- The newly published Cell paper “Reconstruction and Simulation of Neocortical Microcircuitry” (mirrored at diyhpl.us) was circulated alongside NYT coverage, marking a milestone in whole-rat-brain digital emulation and sparking discussion of future whole-brain models.

- MIT’s 2014 algorithm for reconstructing speech from high-speed video of vibrating objects (e.g., a potato-chip bag) was shared, with speculation about reading ancient voices from clay-pot surface ripples.

- Clinical use of poliovirus (PVS-RIPO) against recurrent glioblastoma was cited as an existing Phase I trial, illustrating the tension between FDA-driven $100 M drug costs and medical-tourism alternatives for experimental viral cancer therapies.

- CaptHindsight argued that widely distributed low-cost micro- and nano-fabrication toolkits could outflank incumbent patents over the next 10–20 years, while kanzure emphasized that current DNA-synthesis bottlenecks make open-source biology feel like “programming with three punch cards and four-hour copy-paste delays.”