# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussions

• Participants emphasized the need for practical transhumanist technology development over theoretical discussions, highlighting achievements like reducing thermocycler costs from $50,000 to $25 through DIY open-source lab equipment initiatives.

• A significant debate occurred on the feasibility of whole brain emulation versus AGI development, with philosophical questions about whether destructive uploading represents continuation of consciousness or merely creates a copy while the original experiences death.

• The channel maintains a collaborative DIY transhumanist wiki (http://diyhpl.us/wiki/) with a git-based contribution system for documenting projects and technologies.

• Detailed technical discussions focused on DNA synthesis as a critical bottleneck in synthetic biology, with participants proposing engineered polymerases that could be controlled through light-sensitive chromophores to enable precise, affordable DNA synthesis.

• Participants explored the potential of myostatin inhibitors through gene therapy approaches, suggesting well-designed inhibitors could theoretically increase muscle mass by 50-300%, representing a practical approach to human enhancement.

• The group discussed innovative DNA synthesis methods including sequential overlap extension PCR with short oligos attached to magnetic beads, which could potentially reduce the current high costs ($0.15-0.30/bp) that limit DIY genetic engineering.