- Aging framed as either “biological garbage collection” or accumulated damage sparked debate; participants argued that death accelerates evolutionary turnover but anti-aging remains desirable regardless of evolutionary theory.  
- A Cell paper (DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2017.02.024) on a fasting-mimicking diet that triggers Ngn3-mediated β-cell regeneration and reverses diabetes was highlighted as a promising metabolic intervention.  
- DIY tissue-engineering discussion covered surfactant-based decellularization, micro-grooved 3-D printed scaffolds, and the persistent challenge of vascularizing constructs beyond organoid scale.  
- George Church’s “future of genetic codes and BRAIN codes” talk and the 2017 HGP-Write conference (May 7–June 1) were promoted; two-page pilot-project proposals were still being accepted.  
- A “prototrophic human genome” proposal—inserting complete vitamin C and essential fatty-acid biosynthesis pathways—was noted as already funded, though engineering plants or gut microbes was argued to be simpler.  
- Kernel’s acquisition of KRS and the appointments of Adam Marblestone (Chief Strategy Officer) and Ed Boyden (Senior Scientific Advisor) signaled intensified commercial interest in next-generation BCIs.  
- Participants circulated Rick Cattell’s 2012 white-paper “Challenges for brain emulation: why so difficult?” (synapticlink.org/Brain%20Emulation%20Challenges.pdf) to ground technical discussion on whole-brain emulation obstacles.  
- Two competing DNA-assembly strategies were weighed: in-vitro enzymatic recA-mediated recombination versus yeast-based self-assembly from short fragments, balancing simplicity, speed, and IP risk.  
- Real-time cryptographic timestamps were created for two unpublished technical proposals to defend against U.S. “first-to-file” patent risks, illustrating open-source defensive tactics.