# Key Points from the ##hplusroadmap IRC Conversation

• FDA regulations allow physicians to prescribe off-label stem cell treatments despite no licensed stem cell treatments being available, explaining why some Beverly Hills clinics can offer such procedures while not being allowed to market them as approved treatments.

• The economics of academic publishing was discussed, with arXiv's operating costs projected at $826,000 annually for 2013-2017, prompting Cornell University to implement membership fees after taking over from founder Paul Ginsparg.

• Participants explored cell biology fundamentals, distinguishing between enhancers (which unravel chromatin to facilitate transcription across multiple genes) and promoters (which are tied to specific genes) in gene regulation.

• A calculation suggested microfluidic DNA synthesis could potentially reduce costs by 6-12 orders of magnitude from the current $0.28 per base pair, indicating significant potential cost reductions in synthetic biology.

• The conversation compared cell transfection methods, noting that lipofectamine (a cationic lipid that merges with cell membranes) is more expensive but offers higher efficiency and lower toxicity than electroporation.

• In response to Aaron Swartz's death, users discussed legal implications and shared information about JSTOR's previous arrangements with academics for large bulk downloads of academic papers.

• Participants analyzed academic paper distribution security by comparing MD5 sums of PDFs from different university libraries to detect watermarks or identifying information that publishers embed to track document sharing.