- A 2005 PLOS Medicine paper by Ioannidis was highlighted as a foundational reference on reproducibility and systemic bias in biomedical research, framing later concerns about open-science rigor.  
- UK tax regulations were shown to forbid repurposing university equipment bought tax-free for “pure research” into teaching or commercial use without retroactive tax payment, complicating plans for low-cost, campus-based robotic biology labs.  
- Participants concluded that truly insect-selective nerve agents are unlikely because mammalian and insect nervous systems share conserved architectures; nicotine’s differential lethality was cited as an example where a single amino-acid change in neural signaling genes protects humans.  
- A homemade insecticide hack—soaking cigarette butts in water to extract nicotine—was noted as a widely known, low-cost method, illustrating grassroots biohacking practices.  
- A prior clinical modeling project on organophosphate pesticide suicides was described, emphasizing how solvent formulation dramatically alters lethality and the need for antidotes optimized for rapid, minimally trained administration (e.g., battlefield medics).  
- The BBC documentary “Inside Porton Down: Britain’s Secret Weapons Research Facility” was recommended for historical context on UK chemical-weapons research.  
- A new “Lego-like modular microfluidics platform” (paper linked) was introduced, though skepticism was voiced about the clarity and extensibility of its inter-brick interfaces.  
- DIY ultrasound costs were benchmarked: <$1 k to build, $500–$5 k used, ~$7 k for GE’s handheld Vscan, underscoring regulatory and cost barriers targeted by open-hardware efforts.