UNIT 7
LAB QUESTIONS
Biohacking—You Can Do It, Too
1. What does Genspace do? What is a biohacker?
Genspace is a nonprofit community, biotech lab located in Brooklyn. It's for people to come
in and take classes and work on things in the lab. It's known to be an open and a very
friendly place. Biohackers reverse engineer laboratory equipment and genetically engineer
bacteria, hack hardware, software, wetware and the life code. They like to build things and
take things apart, as well as make things grow and glow.
2. What are some of the potential applications of biotechnology?
Some of the potential applications are to substitute fossil fuels, to transform medicine, and
to touch every aspect of our daily lives.
3. What are the risks of biohacking? Do you think the risks of biohacking outweigh the
advantages? Why or why not?
They could have an accident and create something bad. Someone could also download
someone's sequence, go back to a lab, and create fake DNA and use it at a crime scene. The
positives outweigh the risks. There is more good that comes out of biohacking than
negatives.
4. What some of the things members have used biohacking for?
DNA barcoding, analyze genomes for mutations, collect microbes from the stratosphere,
make a biosensor out of yeast to detect pollutants in water, or make some sort of biofuel
cell.
