# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussions

• Participants discussed advanced imaging technologies for chip reverse engineering, comparing X-ray tomography (with commercial systems claiming sub-50nm resolution) to traditional grinding methods, and explored Focused Ion Beam (FIB) applications for creating X-ray zone plates.

• Brain Backups was discussed as a company developing non-destructive brain imaging using proprietary techniques combining synthetic biology, MRI, smart contrast agents, aptamer-based technology, and voltage-sensitive dyes to capture neural electrical activity.

• The conversation revealed tensions between traditional academic biotech and DIYbio/open-source biology communities, with participants noting that researchers with academic backgrounds often dismiss the capabilities of DIYbio practitioners.

• Detailed discussions on molecular nanotechnology covered automated design systems, referencing Freitas and Merkle's work on nanofactories and the challenges of creating specialized tooltips with angstrom-level precision for atomically precise manufacturing.

• Participants explored different approaches to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), contrasting brain emulation methods with de novo AGI development, with some arguing AGI could be achievable within 5 years while whole-brain emulation might take until the 2030s-2040s.

• The regulation of genetic synthesis was debated, with participants noting inconsistent implementation of blacklists for dangerous sequences across companies, including Transcriptic which had discussed but not implemented such safeguards during one participant's tenure.

• Biotech company models were compared, contrasting Transcriptic's "100% roboticized" cloud biology approach with Ginkgo Bioworks' gene foundry model, highlighting different strategies in the emerging synthetic biology industry.