• CRISPR-Cas13a (LwaCas13a) was presented as a next-generation RNA-targeting platform that outperforms RNAi in specificity and offers catalytically “dead” variants for live-cell RNA tracking without cleavage, usable in both mammalian and plant cells.

• Two-photon holographic optogenetics using the fast opsin Chronos achieved sub-millisecond spike timing and reliable 100 Hz firing in mouse brain slices, demonstrating the spatiotemporal precision required to replicate natural microcircuit dynamics.

• A fully automated “imagepatching” system was described that integrates two-photon microscopy with robotic patch-clamp to identify, target, and patch individual neurons in vivo without human intervention, forming a closed-loop experimental pipeline.

• A speculative “nano DJ” concept was outlined in which RecA motor proteins rotate DNA fragments spanning two solid-state nanopores while embedded gate electrodes modulate ionic current, aiming for stepwise DNA motion and single-base resolution.

• Fabrication details for 99 %-yield solid-state nanopore arrays with three embedded electrodes (two drive, one sense) were shared (DOI:10.1039/c3nr06723h) as a practical route to electrically controlled, single-base DNA stepping.

• Participants critiqued Josiah Zayner’s self-injection CRISPR experiment, arguing that PEI-mediated in-vivo plasmid transfection is inefficient, affects only rare transfected cells, and relies on stochastic replication errors to evade repeated Cas9 cleavage.

• The group debated the feasibility of feeding individual tRNAs to a ribosome in sequence—potentially via nanopore delivery—to enable codon-by-codon translation, with impedance or fluorescence readouts proposed to monitor amino-acid incorporation in real time.

• Resources circulated included Addgene AAV5 vectors for optogenetic opsins Chrimson and Chronos, open-source CFD toolchains (FEniCS, BRL-CAD scripting), and a Python API for automated geometry generation in BRL-CAD.