Meat Laser, among other things!
from making custom gene therapy to growing bacteria and viruses to growing meat lasers, the power and sophistication of garage molecular biohackers has grown significantly in the last decade.
Every so often there is a site that just brings a smile to your face. For me, this is one of them, Cyborg Web Shop. It is just a concept site representing a future webshop for aspiring Cyborgs. We can find titanium bones, a news chip that implants into the brain, a DNA aging inhibitor, younger skin, or a PlayStation implant chip.
Can I use the play station implant chip for applications other than the playing of video games?
Of course! The play station implant chip is a microcomputer in your head and can be used with all standard software packages. You can even use the Internet if you have the mobile phone implant chip implanted. However, you must have additional equipment for using the wireless mouse.
(sites FAQ)
It is an old test site, meant to showcase web developers’ ability, but even as such, it is quite detailed and imaginative regarding its content. Every entry is described and categorized, there is also a detailed FAQ. The only thing that is somewhat awkward is the entrance where you are not presented with a web shop but a small questionnaire.
The design was made at the beginning of 2004 and is no longer available but Internet Archive got us covered here.
One site similar to Cyborg Web Shop in function is the HumanUpgrades. It is one of the most disturbing as it is fascinating websites that exist on the web. It has no graphic violence, and there are non of gruesome pictures but there is something about the website that sends chills down my spine.
Are we this close to making this a reality, are there people who would like to have webs between their fingers, clitoris on their palm, or one nostril?
Nevertheless the content, unlike Cyborg Web Shop, takes itself seriously. It looks like it could be real, but it’s just too out there to be. It’s a good thing it’s in Adobe Flash so “no one” will be able to look at it now. Where Cyborg Web Shop admits it’s a test site, this site does not. Who knows, maybe it’s for real.
I sent them an email request but still no reply.
Now, for something more functional and quite real. Shannon Larratt from BMEzine.com wrote a very interesting article on how James Sooy made a piercing that can be more than just decorative art. It can actually serve a purpose, just like a pierced tongue (go for it, ladies).
I also wear an eyepiece so this approach to the classic "problem" of what is the best way we can augment our eyesight is interesting to me. One distinct problem with this approach is that too many people still distrust or are disgusted by the thought of inserting a foreign object into their bodies.
This got me going down my knowledge and memory web to an article about biohacking in the early 2000s. I was also intrigued that there is not much talk about DIY molecular biology, especially with the pandemic and all as I don’t remember seeing it around the web a lot. I would have thought that people cooking bacteria and viruses in their garages would be interesting but guess not. My guess, DIY labs have grown up and become bio Startups.
First, some history. If you talked about biohacking around the 2000s and before It was generally thought that you were talking about what today would be seen as body augmentations like the sites above. But, then at the start of the 2010s, as technology became more advanced and bio labs worldwide were upgrading and selling their old machines, they ended up in the hands of hackers who were setting up their own bio labs in the garages and doing Genetic engineering.
Creating a clean room in your garage is not that difficult, especially considering that many clean rooms are simply environments with a focus on cleanliness. It's not necessary for them to be completely sterile. If you ensure that your work surfaces are clean, wear protective coverings such as gloves, and use bleach or a 70/30 alcohol solution to clean the surfaces you are considered good to go. Additionally, make sure to maintain adequate air exchange and ventilation.
All this was facilitated by the discovery of the CRISPR gene editing technique.
You can go online and get a basic kit for CRISPR editing for below $200.
A good overview of the early BioHacking scene can be seen in the following video.
In recent years this trend has become more approachable with websites like AddGene that have huge lists of gene segments, if you can decipher it.
What is fascinating about all of this advancement is just how much of it is publicly available. For a layman in this field of study, the terms and procedures look like magic especially when watching channels like The Thought Emporium run by Justin Atkin and Vesta Korniakova. In one such video, Justin cooked up a gene therapy to fix his extreme Lactose Intolerance. Watching it I felt fascinated, and excited, and wished I went into biomolecular studies but at the same time I felt squeamish, and worried that such knowledge was available to any who dared to learn and master it.
There is a whole STEM subculture that deals with “synthetic biology” with the most prominent being iGEM. iGEM “educates the workforce and the leaders of the Synthetic Biology industry. The iGEM Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology”
While each of the student projects is “reviewed for safety and security risks - making sure we do not cause harm to our community or the societies with which we interact” I’m sure there are many out there that don’t share their views or morals. Hence the squeamishness I felt while watching The Thought Emporium. And that’s the knowledge that can’t be regulated as it’s already out there and resources are “commonplace” for anyone who is looking.
In the US “biohacking” falls under FDA but so far the FDA has not clarified its stance on it so there is a lot of confusion.
So, what about the Meat Laser, well, it was a sort of clickbait. It is real just not what you thought about when clicking. The Thought Emporium did such a laser but with protein from meat, not meat itself.
And for good measure, here is a bread combined with a carrot.
In the end, what can I say, I’m excited and terrified at the same time. I don’t think we as a species are ready to wield such power. We can regulate but that never stopped anyone determined enough especially when the barrier to creating something awful has become so low. Most of the equipment can be DIYed, chemicals are available and gene segments can be purchased online.
While such power was fantastical 20 years ago, now, we are really living in an interesting time….