- Historical medical denial: A 1989 article “Babies don’t feel pain: A century of denial in medicine” (http://nocirc.org/symposia/second/chamberlain.html) was cited, documenting how open-heart surgery on infants was once routinely performed without anesthesia.  
- India’s gene-editing consultation: India’s ICMR released a draft document (https://www.icmr.nic.in/sites/default/files/whats_new/Call_comments.pdf) soliciting public comments on gene-editing regulations; participants noted the text is light on germline provisions.  
- Transhumanist policy vacuum: Participants criticized mainstream transhumanist non-profits for focusing on conferences and publicity stunts (e.g., “coffin bus”) rather than submitting detailed comments to regulatory consultations that oppose human enhancement.  
- He Jiankui & Chinese surveillance: George Church’s claim that China’s pervasive surveillance must have known about He Jiankui’s CRISPR babies was debated; skeptics argued targeted, not omniscient, monitoring is the norm.  
- Church’s regulatory stance: A biohackinfo.com article was quoted asserting that Church favors “strict hyper-surveillance” and endorses the FDA’s scientific capacity, positioning him as unusually pro-regulation within the biohacking community.  
- Atmospheric lens paper: A new arXiv preprint (1908.00490) on using the atmosphere as a large optical lens was shared, with accompanying Hacker News discussion.  
- NIST nanolithography tools: Links to the CNST Nanolithography Toolbox (https://www.nist.gov/services-resources/software/cnst-nanolithography-toolbox) and an associated NIST Journal of Research paper were posted for open-source nanofabrication resources.  
- Speculative gene-mod wishlist: A joking suggestion to add “prehensile dolphin-like penis” and “wings” to the catalog of desired DIY gene modifications illustrated the community’s mix of humor and ambition.