Saturday, July 19, 2014: 8:00 pm (Manning): In the past few years, there have been foundational developments enabling hobbyists and seasoned professionals to research and develop the life sciences outside of classical institutions. Known as DIYbiology or biohacking, this shift in the bio-world takes its inspiration from mature hacker and open source cultures. In this panel, Canadian biohacker successes and struggles will be presented. Current legal, economic, and political landscapes that affect Canadian and global biohackers will be discussed and compared. What constraints and challenges are faced when it comes to doing synthetic or molecular biology outside of its conventional confines? How is the community membership growing and what does it take to accelerate this growth? Lastly, what growth are we anticipating for independent and open biotech research, as well as inter-laboratory and international collaboration? And how can the audience and other hacker communities get involved in this exciting shift?

Kevin Chen, Connor Dickie