# Summary of #hplusroadmap IRC Log (June 9, 2016)

* A biochemistry question was posed about mixing oligonucleotides (AAA) with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TDT) and triphosphate (P3O10H5) to potentially create nucleotides with "dirty ends" by adding phosphate without an attached ribose.

* Robin Hanson's book "The Age of Em" was discussed, with links to a review by Anders Sandberg (http://aleph.se/andart2/reviews/review-of-robin-hansons-the-age-of-em/) and an announcement of Hanson presenting in Second Life on June 26th.

* The Human Genome Project-write (HGP-write) initiative was mentioned, with kanzure suggesting "we should do our own version" of the $100 million effort led by Jef Boeke, George Church, and Andrew Hessel.

* Several participants discussed mind mapping software limitations, particularly the challenges of representing non-hierarchical relationships and nodes with multiple parents, with JayDugger noting that Leo and Freemind were unsatisfactory for these purposes.

* Multiple neuroscience papers were shared from arXiv, including research on quantum neuromorphic devices, consensus connectomes in the frontal lobe, and the physical limits of magnetogenetics (which debunked certain cellular applications of ferritin).

* A paper was shared suggesting a possible link between the insecticide pyriproxyfen (used in Brazilian drinking water) and microcephaly, proposing it as an alternative explanation to Zika virus for the increase in birth defects.