Re: [DIYbio] O'Reilly BioHacker Issue 4: Open Source Biotech Consumables

I'm the guy behind Open qPCR, and while I don't believe all patents are evil, I do believe it's in society's best interests for certain fundamental technologies to be open and available to all. We on this mailing list can't change the patent system, but we can work to open up these key technologies and reagents.

There's a lot of confusion amongst researchers as to what is patented and it takes extra work to release an open project -- first researching and understanding the IP landscape to see what is truly protected, and then design around the remaining true obstacles. We're trying to do this again right now with our Chai Green reagent, an IP-free intercalating dye suitable for Real-Time PCR or basic gel staining.

As Cathal said the number of people that truly appreciate the openness is small compared with the number of people who just want cheap products. If we want open source science to succeed we need to find ways to grow the number of people who specifically support open projects, as well as grow the number of people open sourcing new technologies.

-Josh

On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 6:07 AM, Aizan Fahri <vilafrantez@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi there, Aizan's here from Rochester NY. Couple things I want to say here, and let me hear your thoughts.

1. I've been keeping eyes and ears on few Kickstarter projects like the extremely successful Open QPRC that got 100% funded less than 5 days. Couple more cool projects like Open Trons and MiniPCR, and I like these projects because they are trying to keep the cost to do science as low as possible, which is what exactly we need to move this field forward.

2. Based on the point number 1, and from the article Open Source Biotech Consumables, the only thing we are quite lagging behind is the patent this! culture through bureaucratic processes and mutual trust agreements. Schloendorn proposes in the article by saying that the reagents (proteins, RNA, DNA), some of the important ones, should be open source assets instead of being patented assets. It makes the field of bio and biotechnology more accessible and cheaper, and faster to move forward as in the advancement in the world of technology. For example the widespread adoption of Android mobile operating system is really a huge success, thanks to the fact that Android itself is open source.

3. So the question is, can we really open source the reagents? Or we still need to patent them because "scientists need money, too"?

Thanks!

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