# Key Points from IRC Discussions

• Participants discussed DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) as both a chemical solvent and a naturally occurring substance, noting that plankton emit DMSO (giving sea its characteristic smell) and that bacteria can naturally produce it, with reference to scientific literature.

• A research paper on cell biology was shared and discussed (doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.11.037), with access provided through LibGen, demonstrating the community's focus on open access to scientific literature.

• The regulatory burden for medical treatments was quantified, with Initial Phase 1AB documentation typically running 800 pages while Phase IV trials can reach 15,000 pages, costing companies approximately $250K in man-hours alone.

• A recommendation was made to use protein scaffolds for enzymes in bacterial engineering to improve efficiency, supported by a shared scientific paper "Protein scaffolds for enzyme engineering" (DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2013.01.003).

• The establishment of a new biohacking space in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was mentioned, attracting interest from both advanced academics (masters and PhD graduates) and high school students, highlighting the global spread of DIY biology.

• Technical discussions included using Flask-SQLAlchemy for creating web interfaces to monitor scientific equipment, specifically for "patch clamp microdialysis beowulf cluster" status monitoring.

• Participants discussed DIY approaches to building scientific equipment, particularly bioreactors/incubators needed for experiments with fungi (specifically Candida), demonstrating the practical, hands-on nature of the community.