# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion (May 14, 2013)

• The Glowing Plant Kickstarter project was criticized for overstating its innovation, with participants noting it wasn't "pushing the boundaries of synthetic biology" despite marketing claims, and BioCurious was still evaluating whether to host the project.

• A detailed discussion on learning synthetic biology emphasized the importance of progressive learning: reproducing existing work before attempting novel projects, thoroughly reading scientific papers, and considering community college classes for hands-on experience.

• Specific DIY biology learning resources were recommended, including the DIY biology FAQ (http://diyhpl.us/wiki/diybio/faq), molecular biology textbooks, and a collection of papers at http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bio/.

• A user shared their jQuery UI widget for DNA sequence manipulation (jquery-seqspinner), which included functionality for estimating annealing temperatures of probes containing inosines: https://github.com/rcallahan/jquery-seqspinner.

• Ellen Jorgensen's biohacking profile in Wired UK sparked a technical discussion about proper laboratory posture and pipetting techniques, highlighting the importance of ergonomics in lab work.

• Several valuable NASA technical document collections were shared, including archives at aric.or.kr, digital.library.unt.edu, archive.org, and naca.central.cranfield.ac.uk.

• The Firefox OS Simulator was mentioned as a tool for developers, with a link to the Mozilla add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firefox-os-simulator/.