• Gen9 BioFab claims 3 ¢/base-pair oligo synthesis, sparking debate on whether this is a breakthrough or incremental; participants note it is still far from “disposable-cost” whole-genome or operon-scale work.

• A PLOS ONE paper on rapid, magnetic-bead-based synthesis of long dsDNA from single-stranded templates was highlighted as matching earlier channel brainstorming, reinforcing the feasibility of enzymatic, water-phase, green-chemistry DNA synthesis.

• The Human Genome Project-Write (HGP-Write) initiative was discussed, including an invitation-only Georgia Tech “semisynbio” meeting and the need for a concise technical justification for enzymatic synthesis to present to funders.

• Participants compared controlled enzymatic DNA synthesis (polymerase-based, water-phase, green-chemistry) to traditional phosphoramidite chemistry, emphasizing the goal of printing billion-base-pair constructs with <10 errors without sequencing.

• A Weefun wrist-worn audio recorder (48 kHz ADPCM, 4-bit compressed, ~85 MB/hr) was evaluated for continuous life-logging, with ideas proposed for Pebble Time 2 integration, multi-mic wearables, and conference-scale audio capture.

• Concerns were raised about MRI software bugs (The Register article) potentially invalidating years of neuroimaging research, alongside a brief aside that fMRI is “mostly bunk” among some participants.

• Femtoliter inkjet spotting (sub-micron droplets) and electrowetting limitations for ultra-high-density DNA arrays were debated; Twist Biosciences was noted to be pursuing micro-well flooding approaches, while 50 µm droplets (~65 pL) with oil-overlay were suggested as more practical than 1 µm droplets (~0.25 fL) that evaporate too quickly.

• jcorgan is surveying the current state-of-the-art for home-built infrared and NMR hardware, and Autodesk (which recently acquired EAGLE PCB-design software) was mentioned as a possible meet-up venue.