# Key Points from IRC Conversation

• SKDB (Standard Kit of Design Bits) is being developed as an "apt-get but for real stuff" system that would allow users to download and assemble hardware designs, with capabilities beyond simple file repositories by including interface specifications for component compatibility matching and assembly instructions.

• The project is implementing assembly visualization capabilities, demonstrated through graph-based diagrams showing component connections, and developing a geometry constraint language to define manufacturing limitations and compatibility checking between interfaces and parts.

• Potential hardware packages for SKDB include thermocyclers for PCR, atomic force microscopes (AFM), and CNC mills, with discussions about business models involving selling kits to people who don't want to build from scratch.

• Researchers shared specific technical resources including AFM designs with probe manufacturing methods that use acid etching techniques, potentially applicable to DNA sequencing.

• The group discussed high-performance computing resources like the TeraGrid network of supercomputers (including Ranger with 63,000 cores) for running molecular dynamics simulations of complex biological systems using NAMD software.

• A scientific paper on "Recent de novo origin of human protein-coding genes" was shared, examining genes unique to humans that aren't found in other primates like chimps, gorillas, or macaques.