- Launch-system design moved beyond simple $/kg to include launch-window availability, reachable orbital parameters, payload size limits, and scalability; participants favored Jordin Kare’s modular laser-thermal rocket plus two-stage rotating tether over the monolithic Launch Loop concept because it can self-expand by lifting additional tether segments and solar arrays.

- A preprint describing a CRISPR-based homing system for high-resolution mouse lineage tracing (doi: 10.1101/280289) was circulated alongside a curated reading list on the longevity benefits of selectively eliminating p16Ink4a-positive senescent cells via the INK-ATTAC transgene and AP20187 dimerizer.

- Current Sci-Hub mirrors (whereisscihub.herokuapp.com, sci-hub.tech, 80.82.77.83/84, paperdownloader.cf) and its Wikidata entry were shared to help the community maintain open access to paywalled literature.

- Molecular-design workflows were debated: NanoEngineer-1’s GROMACS plugin works well for low-strain DNA origami and nanotubes but fails for highly strained “round” fullerene cages; a NASA VR interface for hand-building fullerene geometries was recalled as an intuitive alternative.

- DIY biology discussions explored mitochondrial transplantation (isolated mitochondria delivered by electroporation or ballistic methods), microcell-mediated chromosome transfer for inserting megabase “neochromosomes” into stem cells, and the speculative idea of mitochondria-only cultures for transfection and re-implantation.

- Cell-fusion techniques were catalogued: electrofusion with lab-grade electroporators, PEG-mediated fusion, yeast–mammalian and yeast–ES-cell fusion for human YAC transgenics, and bacterial conjugation to deliver whole genomes or designer episomes into yeast and diatoms.

- Gene-therapy vector strategies compared AAV capsid engineering to evade pre-existing immunity, CNS-restricted AAV-CRISPR for immune-privileged brain editing, and zinc-finger recombinase systems (Sigma-Aldrich CompoZr kits) for targeted plasmid integration into the human genome.

- A Science paper on single-cell mutation dynamics (doi: 10.1126/science.aan0797) was highlighted: ~20 000 mutations accumulate per genome over hundreds of generations, ~1 % are lethal, most are quasi-neutral with an average 0.3 % fitness cost—data critical for assessing genome-editing safety margins.