The rise of biohacking: Tracing the emergence and evolution of DIY biology through online discussions

What it takes to make it: profile and characteristics of DIY bio laboratory founders

“…Furthermore, data triangulation can be increased when an extensive set of data from various data sources has been used (Ranta et al 2018). Additionally, the use of online discourse as a source of data for this research was appropriately chosen as a means to understand the common characteristics of founders as well as the typical narratives they themselves see as valid, and a similar approach was adapted in a study conducted on the development of the DIY movement by Meyer and Vergnaud (2020). Profiles of founder/co-founders of the eight selected DIY bio laboratories are demonstrated below in Table 2.…”

“…Further, regarding the participants in DIY laboratories, Charisius, Friebe, and Karberg (2013, 23) as cited in Meyer and Vergnaud (2020) suggest that there are nerds, entrepreneurs, hackers, and professional scientists involved. Similarly, Trojok (2016) as cited in Meyer and Vergnaud (2020) finds that there are natural scientists, engineers, artists, and philosophers involved in DIY laboratories, while most of them hold university degrees.…”

“…Further, regarding the participants in DIY laboratories, Charisius, Friebe, and Karberg (2013, 23) as cited in Meyer and Vergnaud (2020) suggest that there are nerds, entrepreneurs, hackers, and professional scientists involved. Similarly, Trojok (2016) as cited in Meyer and Vergnaud (2020) finds that there are natural scientists, engineers, artists, and philosophers involved in DIY laboratories, while most of them hold university degrees. In a larger-scaled study, Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars carried out a survey involving over 350 participants in activities of DIY laboratories in 2013, and the results revealed that the participants in DIY laboratories are typically well-educated; they work 7 h per week on their projects averagely; besides their engagement in DIY laboratories, more than half of them are fully employed; and about a quarter of them are students.…”

«Biohacking»: el transhumanismo de garaje

“…Dentro de la comunidad biohacker se llevan a cabo actividades de diversa índole, principalmente de desarrollo de equipos de bajo costo; proyectos de salud, alimenticios, ambientales y de bioarte; talleres, cursos introductorios, capacitaciones y conferencias sobre biología, bioinformática y biotecnologías; proyectos de emprendimiento y start-ups; y dispositivos de integración humano-computadora (Britton & Semaan, 2017) (Meyer & Vergnaud, 2020). Para dichos fines recurren a tecnologías propias de la biología sintética, microbiología, bioquímica, fermentación, ingeniería de tejidos, ADN recombinante (Ochoa, de la Barrera, Padilla, & Ochoa, 2016) y la herramienta de ingeniería genética de última generación CRISPR (Ledford, 2015;Guerrini, Spencer, & Zettler, 2019;Mullin, 2018).…”

“…Uno de aquellos nuevos vocablos es el biohacking, cruce léxico de biology y hacker, el cual es usado para nombrar al movimiento que busca democratizar las ciencias biológicas para un público no experto. Hasta el momento existen trabajos que han explorado la constitución y naturaleza del movimiento (Sánchez Barba, 2014), su evolución y transformación mediante métodos cuantitativos (Meyer & Vergnaud, 2020), así como denuncias de peligro y advertencias sobre sus prácticas (US Food & Drug Administration, 2017;Anand, 2018;Blazeski, 2014;Zettler, Guerrini, & Sherkow, 2019). Otros textos mencionan explícitamente los vínculos entre el biohacking y el transhumanismo (Lux, Bailey, & Reyes, 2017;BBC, 2016;Yetisen, 2018), pero no evidencian ni profundizan lo suficiente en este aspecto.…”