- Plasmidsaurus offers $15 full-length plasmid sequencing with 24-hour turnaround, operated out of the University of Oregon’s Institute of Molecular Biology, making high-quality plasmid verification suddenly accessible to DIY and small labs.  
- A Cell paper titled “Fundamental behaviors emerge from simulations of a living minimal cell” was highlighted; it reports whole-cell modeling of the minimal JCVI-syn3A organism, providing a computational platform for probing minimal life and synthetic-genome engineering.  
- Discussion of an arXiv preprint (2201.07686) that critiques a 2020 Nature paper on room-temperature superconductivity, illustrating ongoing skepticism and reproducibility debates in condensed-matter physics.  
- Channel members debated whether the decade-old “proposals” page for community biolab equipment should still prioritize an HPLC for protein purification or be updated to reflect newer tools and workflows.  
- A Daily Beast article recounted how SpaceX Inspiration4 civilian astronaut Kyle Hippchen had to surrender his seat to friend Chris Sembroski after exceeding the 330-lb weight limit, prompting reflection on physical constraints in commercial spaceflight.