# Key Points from the #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion

• Participants discussed the US National Bioeconomy Blueprint, noting it primarily focused on SBIR funding recommendations and FDA medical device pipeline improvements, with links shared to the full document and executive summary from the White House.

• Several users reported acquiring lab equipment at remarkably low prices, including CO2 incubators with humidity controls for as little as $30 at auction, demonstrating the accessibility of professional equipment for DIY scientists.

• An extensive theoretical discussion explored "biological radio" - whether biological structures could naturally transmit or receive radio signals - with debates about protein structures potentially functioning as antennas and the energy requirements for such communication.

• Kanzure shared NETMORPH, an open-source simulation environment for generating 3D large-scale neuronal networks with realistic morphologies through stochastic processes of elongation, branching and turning.

• Researchers discussed the possibility of using genetically engineered silica spicules (similar to those in nematodes, frogs, and sponges) as quartz resonators to receive and convert RF signals to physically operate nerve cells.

• The community actively expanded open-source scientific tool repositories on diyhpl.us/cgit, adding projects like open-spectrometer, openpcr, liquidhandler001, and parameterized-mendel.

• A discussion revealed ongoing collaboration between the FBI and the DIYbio community, with an FBI/DIYbio hackathon scheduled for June 16th in Sunnyvale, referencing previous year's notes available in the community wiki.