Update
I have had a lot of questions about whether anyone can use these kits or how much knowledge or experience or equipment is required. I want to say that everyone will be able to use these kits(they contain everything you need, no extra equipment is required), even if you have had zero experience with Biotechnology(there will be extensive written protocols and videos available). I believe that the only way that this works is if Science is democratized so everyone has access.
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The
ODIN(http://the-odin.com ) was started on the premise
that if the Scientific population of the world
doubled or tripled, it would change everything
-Therapeutics and medicine
- materials technology
-Fuel and food
-What if we could compost synthetic plastics?
Synthetic Biology is not illegal
So what is stopping this from happening?
Until now, no one has taken the time to develop protocols
and methods and then be willing to provide
all of this for a reasonable price that can
be afforded without large institutional grants.
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Clustered
Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats(CRISPR)
is just a long name to say that Scientist found a protein(Cas9) that can use an RNA guide to
make highly specific cuts in DNA. This allows unprecedented abilities to edit and engineer DNA. The reason it is such a great Synthetic Biology
tool is the specificity and general
applicability. One can target almost any DNA region in
almost any organism and the time to do this is an order
of magnitude less
than before with other genetic engineering techniques.
What if you could learn about new cutting edge techniques like CRISPR by actually performing experiments using them!
*Note to BioHackers: Each Kit comes with all sequence and cloning detail so you can perform your own custom genome engineering.
Featured In
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CRISPR Based Kits
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Bacteria are a commonly used organism in
Synthetic Biology because they grow fast and have simple cellular structures, making them easy to engineer. This kit makes specific edits to genes using
CRISPR allowing the bacteria to survive on special growth media when it
normally would not. Everything required to perform these experiments is
included in the kit.
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Sample CRISPR Kit Contents Include but are not limited to: A 20-200 uL professional lab grade micropipette, pipette tips, a microcentrifuge tube rack and tubes, plates and media, DNA and yeast or bacterial strains.
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Yeast are a commonly used organism in
Synthetic Biology because they are one of the simplest Eukaryotes (their cells are
similar to mammals like Humans!). Normally, yeast grow with a nice creamy white
color. This kit makes specific edits to the ADE2 gene using CRISPR. This causes red pigment
to accumulate and the yeast to turn red. Yeast require a more
complex media to grow so this kit is more expensive. Everything required to
perform these experiments is included in the kit.
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Synthetic Biology Non-CRISPR Based Kits
Light Controlled Bacteria Kit
Have you ever wanted a remote control to the genetics inside a living cell? Well now you can have that with the Light Controlled Bacteria Kit. Using this Kit you will learn about optogenetic engineering techniques and fluorescence and how to control the genetics of bacteria using blue light!
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Engineering Glowing Bacteria Kit
What if you could engineer the genetics of a bacteria to make them glow and give off light? This kit teaches you about genetic engineering and Bioluminescence so you can create your own glowing bacteria.
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What would you create?
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My name is Josiah Zayner. I
received my Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from the University of Chicago studying protein engineering. I have spent the past two
years as a Research Fellow in NASA’s Synthetic Biology program where I work on engineering bacteria for terraforming Mars. Budget and funding issues at NASA necessitate that I mostly work alone. I figured there
has to be another way where more people can contribute to Science. For this reason, I started The ODIN about a year ago to provide resources to BioHackers who wanted to do Science at home. In my free time I have been teaching BioHacking
classes and testing protocols to build these kits. Now I just need you! Without you ,Science will remain the stagnant behemoth out of everyone’s reach. With you, people will be able to contribute to solving some of the most pressing issues we face in health, medicine, food and fuel. If we work together we can Create Something Beautiful.
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When not sleeping or performing cutting edge Science, James Baxter(Orange Cat) and Trypsin(Grey Cat) enjoy eating, snuggling and chasing each other.
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FAQ
Ohhemmm gee, is everyone going to kill themselves with
these kits?
There is nothing in these kits that
is harmful to your health besides maybe the shot
glasses. The Bacteria are less harmful than
bacteria on your skin and the Yeast are almost
identical to the one you use when cooking.
What
about a zombie apocalypse?
Though CRISPR can work in a variety
of organisms specific changes would need to be
made to the DNA in order for it cross any species
barrier. The only zombies you will likely see
will be your friends from using our shot glasses
too much. Isn’t the new season of The Walking
Dead much better though?
If
you could be any super hero who would it be?
Either Nightcrawler from
X-Men or Iron Man.
My name is Josiah Zayner. I
received my Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from the University of Chicago studying protein engineering. I have spent the past two
years as a Research Fellow in NASA’s Synthetic Biology program where I work on engineering bacteria for terraforming Mars. Budget and funding issues at NASA necessitate that I mostly work alone. I figured there
has to be another way where more people can contribute to Science. For this reason, I started The ODIN about a year ago to provide resources to BioHackers who wanted to do Science at home. In my free time I have been teaching BioHacking
classes and testing protocols to build these kits. Now I just need you! Without you ,Science will remain the stagnant behemoth out of everyone’s reach. With you, people will be able to contribute to solving some of the most pressing issues we face in health, medicine, food and fuel. If we work together we can Create Something Beautiful.
When not sleeping or performing cutting edge Science, James Baxter(Orange Cat) and Trypsin(Grey Cat) enjoy eating, snuggling and chasing each other.
