# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion

- Participants discussed issues with research tool access, including problems with paperbot's scihub.py module when retrieving papers from repositories like JSTOR, highlighting ongoing challenges in open access to academic research.

- Technical discussions covered Focused Ion Beam (FIB) techniques for integrating micro/nanoelectrodes into atomic force microscopy cantilevers, with information shared about NIST's 24/7 FIB access and published pricing.

- The economics of biotech were debated, with observations that biotech accelerators will proliferate once costs drop below $200k, citing Ginkgo Bioworks' Y Combinator funding as a positive industry development.

- Community biology labs (Biocurious, Genspace, BossLab) were compared regarding activity levels, membership, and internal politics, revealing sustainability challenges in grassroots biohacking spaces.

- Critical analysis of the "Glowing Plant" project expressed skepticism about its claims and transparency, suggesting potential overhyping in synthetic biology crowdfunding projects.

- Participants explored tensions between open science values and commercial realities, with one member expressing personal conflict about working for an organization that holds patents in life sciences.

- A crowdfunded randomized controlled trial studying PCOS and the Paleo diet at UCSF was shared, demonstrating interest in alternative research funding models.