• CITE-seq, a new single-cell method that simultaneously profiles RNA and >100 surface proteins via DNA-barcoded antibodies, was highlighted (Nature Methods 2017, DOI:10.1038/nmeth.4380), enabling joint transcriptomic-proteomic maps of individual cells.

• Suite2p, an open-source pipeline for two-photon calcium imaging, was noted for routinely extracting activity from >10,000 neurons with standard microscopes (bioRxiv 2017, doi:10.1101/061507).

• Synthetic Genomics’ BioXp 3200 “digital-to-biological converter” was discussed as a benchtop DNA assembler that can receive digital sequence files and synthesize genes or viral genomes overnight, with Venter pitching global “biological teleportation” of antibodies during outbreaks.

• EFF’s “Measuring the Progress of AI” dashboard and Microsoft’s 2016 conversational speech-recognition paper (arXiv:1609.03528) were circulated as reference benchmarks for tracking AI capabilities.

• George Church’s recent anti-aging interview (leafscience.org, 1 Aug 2017) and Juno Therapeutics’ work on engineered transplantable cells/organs were summarized, emphasizing immune-system engineering for tolerance, senescence reversal, and cancer therapy.

• A micro-grant opportunity ($2.5 k cash + $20 k Google Cloud credits) from AI Grant (aigrant.org) was shared for small-scale machine-learning projects.