FLICKR, ADONOFRIOOpen-source software paved the way for a new, community-driven development model by providing a product that was free to use and modify. This in turn fostered a business culture that was driven by support-services. That open-source principles could also herald a new era in biology was demonstrated by the successful completion of the publicly funded Human Genome Project more than a decade ago. Today, that same open, community-driven mindset continues to drive much research in the life sciences.
Soon after the human genome sequence was published, biohackers and do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio) groups came onto the scene. Among the first to demonstrate the feasibility of garage biology was Meredith Patterson, who created glow-in-the-dark yogurt by transfecting green fluorescent protein DNA into Lactobacillus. Rob Carlson, who in 2005 was among the first to spot this new development and start his own garage lab, opined in The Scientist in 2011 that garage innovation would be as important for technological advancements in biology as it was in IT. Since then, some biohackers have organized themselves into low-cost, community-based labs providing both lab space and training. However, unleashing their true technological potential will call for greater networking between these groups and borrowing concepts from business incubator models and ...
