- A CRISPR workshop using The ODIN’s kit was halted mid-experiment when 25 participants, informed that a permit was legally required, unanimously chose not to proceed—highlighting the tension between DIY-bio enthusiasm and regulatory caution.  
- Complete mRNA sequence for the cocaine-synthesizing enzyme from Erythroxylum coca (KC140149) and a 2014 paper on the final BAHD-acyltransferase step (PMC4281001) were shared, providing the genetic parts list for potential metabolic-engineering projects.  
- “Precise base editing in rice, wheat and maize with a Cas9–cytidine-deaminase fusion” (Nature Biotech 2017) was posted, showcasing a new CRISPR variant that edits single bases without double-strand breaks, promising cleaner crop engineering.  
- The PRISM method (Probe-based Imaging for Sequential Multiplexing) was introduced via a pre-print: antibodies are bar-coded with DNA/LNA probes that are imaged and stripped in rapid cycles, enabling super-resolution mapping of a dozen synaptic proteins in situ and scaling to high-content screens.  
- A 2014 fMRI study on “Understanding understanding source code” was discussed; participants speculated whether non-programmers performing syntactic pattern-matching would evoke similar—but less efficient—neural signatures, tying the work to Searle’s Chinese Room thought experiment.  
- Links documenting measurable public-health impacts of daylight-saving time shifts—myocardial infarctions (NEJM 2008) and fatal car crashes (AEA 2016)—were circulated as cautionary data for circadian-intervention debates.  
- “Neural episodic control,” a new deep-RL architecture that rapidly binds and replays high-reward episodes, was shared from arXiv 1703.01988 as a candidate model for artificial memory augmentation.