- A pre-print on “Synthetic pluripotent bacterial stem cells” describes an inducible E. coli circuit that asymmetrically segregates plasmid DNA so that only one daughter cell retains the plasmid, creating an irreversible differentiation event—participants immediately began brainstorming downstream applications.  
- “Transcriptional recording by CRISPR spacer acquisition from RNA” (Nature 2018) was highlighted as a new method for converting cellular RNA histories into DNA records via CRISPR spacer integration.  
- A biorxiv paper on “Bright and photostable chemigenetic indicators for extended in vivo voltage imaging” was shared, offering improved fluorescent reporters for long-term neural activity recording.  
- Twist Bioscience’s rumored IPO filing and ongoing trade-secret litigation with Agilent were discussed, with speculation that the company may have reached the limits of cost-reduction in DNA synthesis and is now seeking public capital.  
- Participants noted that Twist’s prior willingness to synthesize entire genomes for GP-Write without clear pricing suggests continued heavy subsidy by venture funding rather than profitable operations.  
- A commercial photometer for microbial culture monitoring, the “MicrobeMeter” from Human Technologies, was linked as an accessible hardware tool for biohackers.  
- Ansa Bio’s next-generation DNA synthesis platform (ansabio.com) was briefly introduced as an emerging alternative to Twist.  
- The channel’s ongoing archival effort produced new transcripts covering Bitcoin Core technical sessions on efficient P2P transaction relay, SIGHASH_NOINPUT, wallet security, and script descriptors, all posted to diyhpl.us/diyhpluswiki.