# Key Points from IRC Discussions

• Participants discussed exon skipping as a treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), highlighting a case where researchers accidentally demonstrated successful dystrophin restoration in a patient with exon 51-55 deletion, though they lamented that commercial focus remained on more common deletion variants.

• The conversation revealed significant barriers to DIY biohacking for rare disease variants, including the technical complexity of synthesizing modified nucleotides (requiring phosphorothioate backbones and 2'-O-methyl modified ribose), patent restrictions, and prohibitive costs exceeding $100,000 for equipment and reagents.

• Members discussed the closed nature of biotechnology careers, with one participant from Eureka Genomics describing "wetlab employment as a carefully guarded cartel" while suggesting that 3D printing and affordable next-gen sequencers could eventually democratize the field.

• A vision for an integrated wearable device was shared, combining technologies from Leap Motion, TikTok Lunatik watch, and cellphone watches to create a waterproof life-logging device with PDA functionality.

• Participants exchanged information about electromagnetic shielding materials and precision positioning systems for laser projects, requesting scientific papers on topics including radiofrequency interactions with biological molecules.

• The group discussed challenges in genomic sequence alignment software, noting limitations in tools like BWA and suggesting alternatives such as Novoalign for more comprehensive sequence alignment.