# Key Points from IRC Discussions on Transhumanist Technologies

• A comprehensive brain emulation roadmap report from Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute was shared (http://fhi.ox.ac.uk/brain-emulation-roadmap-report.pdf), serving as a significant reference document for researchers in the field of whole brain emulation.

• Recent neuroscience advances combining patch clamping with single-cell sequencing were discussed, with several Nature Biotechnology papers referenced, demonstrating the community's focus on cutting-edge techniques for understanding neural function at the cellular level.

• DIY microbiology resources were exchanged, with specific supplier recommendations (p212121, aliexpress, the-odin.com, openbiotech.com) for equipment like petri dishes and incubators, highlighting the growing accessibility of biohacking tools.

• The technical and economic challenges of DIY wet chemistry DNA synthesis were analyzed in detail, including the requirements for qualified personnel (MSc level), specialized equipment, and the high costs of analytical instruments like mass spectrometers.

• Participants engaged in a technical comparison of various vacuum technologies (from Sprengel pumps to ion pumps) and their applications in scientific equipment, sharing resources like "The Bell Jar" magazine and detailed dependency diagrams for vacuum systems.

• The economics of scientific infrastructure was debated, including whether to rent cloud-based GPU clusters versus building custom systems with used GPUs from cryptocurrency miners, and the challenges of university collaboration where institutions claim large percentages of grant funding.

• Advanced manufacturing techniques were explored, particularly 3D printing of ceramics using methods like gelcasting with various binders (waterglass, alginate, carrageenan) for creating high-temperature components for vacuum systems and other scientific applications.