• Deep-learning tool DeepATAC (preprint at biorxiv.org/172767) predicts transcription-factor binding from ATAC-seq data, offering an open computational route to regulatory genomics.

• FDA granted Orphan Drug status to AGTC’s AAV-based gene therapy for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, highlighting the regulatory path for open-source gene-therapy projects.

• The open-source MotioSuit motion-capture hardware was released on Hackaday.io with full schematics, lowering the barrier to biomechanics and VR research.

• Participants argued that low-cost DIYbio (Open Insulin, BlueGene indigo bacteria, violacein synthesis, CRISPR kits from The Odin) already undermines fears of “designer-baby inequality,” and proposed pig/cow tissue or diabetic-cat assays as pragmatic ways to validate DIY insulin without expensive HPLC or human trials.

• A “microbe-directed evolution” experiment was outlined in which mice infected with microbes undergo maze trials; microbes from the best performers are iteratively mutated and selected to evolve strains that enhance cognition, with Toxoplasma cited as a naturally brain-penetrating precedent.

• Longevity genetics: a Nature Communications paper identified lifespan-associated loci (CDKN2B-AS1, CHRNA5, RBM6, SULT1A1, FTO, LPA) and noted that reduced brain expression of CHRNA5 and SULT1A1 correlates with extended lifespan.

• Recent fMRI/decoding studies shared include restoration of latent visual working memory, shared memory representations across individuals, decoding imagined images from occipital/parietal activity, and neural decoding of dream imagery.

• An Oculus-Rift-compatible molecular viewer demo from the GP-write conference was linked on GitHub, enabling VR-based structural-biology visualization.

• Discussion of “useful proof-of-work” cryptocurrencies concluded that redirecting mining cycles to scientific simulations (e.g., protein folding) is blocked by the need for cryptographically secure, non-gameable problems and ASIC optimization constraints.