• Open-source GMP-grade erythropoietin (EPO) production was proposed but deemed impractical because the required GMP bioreactors, HPLC/FPLC systems, and bioprofile analyzers would cost more than commercial biosimilars, challenging the feasibility of truly open-source biologics.

• A low-cost DNA inkjet synthesizer design was outlined: retrofit an Alibaba A4 UV flatbed printer with a motorized Z-axis, custom controller, wash/dry nozzles, and sealed enclosure; microfluidic “flooding” or isolated wells would enable oligo synthesis and assembly without external pipetting.

• CaptHindsight shared a 2013 RSC Lab-on-a-Chip paper demonstrating on-chip PCR, Gibson assembly, and physical partitioning of subarrays to avoid post-synthesis pooling, plus a Surveyor-nuclease error-correction protocol achieving ≈1 error per 8.7 kbp.

• DIY plant-tissue-culture protocols were detailed: Murashige & Skoog medium plus agar, improvised glove-box from a transparent storage tub with bleach-soaked towel seals, and disposable LPG canisters with screw-on micro-bunsens for sterile updraft instead of flask heating.

• A DIY DNA-synthesis project using photolithography on glass slides or PET sheets was documented at http://diyhpl.us/wiki/dna/synthesis/notes/ and http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.analchem.5b02893, offering a solid-state peptide-synthesis-like approach with on-chip assembly.

• Recent CRISPR/Cas9 advances discussed included virus-inducible editing in insect cells to block baculovirus replication, AAV-mediated in-vivo retinal editing in mammals, and oncolytic-virus engineering, emphasizing rapid open dissemination of cutting-edge gene-editing techniques.

• Ellefson et al.’s “reverse-transcription xenopolymerase” (RTX) was highlighted as the first reverse transcriptase with 3′-5′ exonuclease proofreading, enabling single-enzyme RT-PCR and direct RNA sequencing without cDNA isolation (Science 2016).

• CONFOLD, a residue-residue contact-guided ab-initio protein-folding algorithm, was circulated as a PDF pre-print, reflecting ongoing open-source interest in computational structural biology.

• Electronically controlled polymerase ratcheting at single-nucleotide resolution was debated; participants considered femtoliter droplet microfluidics, protecting-group chemistries, and hollow-cantilever AFM liquid-dispensing as potential solutions to the lack of 1 nt/step pausing mechanisms.

• The Synthetic Human Genome Project received commentary from a participant who attended the organizer’s July 4th party, illustrating close ties between the open-source biohacker community and the closed-door initiative.