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Instead of carrying your data in a USB drive on you, would you rather carry your data in you? If you ever had an accident and were unable to communicate, would you like medical professionals to be able to read data about your medical background and blood type, allergies etc from an implanted chip? Is wearing headphones a hassle and you would like to have headphones in you rather than on you? Would you like to extend your vision into the infrared? Would you like to be able to do advanced synthetic biology with a minimum budget and without a large number of highlytrained scientists to assist you? Then you might be interested in biohacking. BIOHACKING 16  Silicon Chip By Dr David Maddison siliconchip.com.au B iohacking is a relatively new phenomenon, of amateurs applying the “hacker” philosophy to the human body or other biological processes. Biohackers seek to improve either the physical or the biological function of their own bodies or of other organisms or, potentially, invent whole new organisms. A wide range of practices and ideological approaches apply to biohacking. It is important to note that biohackers are (with some notable exceptions) primarily of an amateur, do-it-yourself background. Institutional involvement is not generally sought nor considered desirable but the boundaries of biohacking are not strictly defined. And there are areas of overlap both with the individuals and the devices involved. Take for example, an RFID chip – it is a “mainstream” device. However, when it is encapsulated in a biocompatible coating and then implanted into a human by someone who is not a surgeon, it enters the territory of the biohacker. There are two main types of biohackers. One type are the “grinders” who primarily develop or use either non-invasive hardware attachments for the human body (eg, electrodes to enable biofeedback) or actual hardware implants. Implants are known generally as “wetware” within the grinder community – although this highlights some definitional issues within the biohacker community, Wikipedia defines wetware as “elements equivalent to hardware and software found in a person, namely the central nervous system (CNS) and the human mind”. The second type of biohackers are the amateur biologists who develop chemical and biological enhancements for the human body or stand-alone projects involving genetic modification of organisms. A simple example of a biological biohacking project is to implement a certain dietary regimen to enhance vision (which we will discuss later). Another very basic biohack, familiar to everyone, is a morning coffee to enhance performance – although most would not consciously do that as a biohack. Work on advanced synthetic biology which may even involve genetic sequencing or genetic modification which is done in so-called “biofoundries” is also possible. The scope of biohacking ranges from the simple and familiar to the extreme and bizarre. Editor’s note: readers may be familiar with other common forms of bio-hacking, some of which have been practiced for more than a century. This includes bodybuilding (whether natural, using over-the-counter supplements or anabolic steroids), performance enhancement for athletes (including breathing restriction/altitude training, blood transfusions and various drugs including EPO). Other performanceenhancing drug use includes healthy males taking Viagra and military personnel, long distance drivers etc taking amphetamines to improve alertness. WARNING! Many of the activities described here could be hazardous and even life-threatening. SILICON CHIP specifically warns you not to attempt any DIY medical procedures (including biohacks and implants) on yourself or anyone else. we will focus on the technology, not the philosophies of the movement. The scope of biohacking is significant and so to place things in some perspective we have attempted to categorise the different areas of practice. Note that there is no overall agreement on biohacker definitions so we have made our best attempt based on the information available. The following main areas will be discussed: Grinders – implanted devices; body enhancement through use of diet or pharmaceuticals Non-invasive devices – for use by biohackers Synthetic biologists – non-grinder biohackers Organisations and communities – for biohackers Note that space only allows discussion of some representative examples of biohacking, not all projects or organisations can be discussed. GRINDERS – Implanted devices Implanted magnets Implanted magnets are one of the simplest invasive grinder biohacks that can be done. As well as being able to pick up small objects such as paper clips without gripping them, as shown below, there are useful applications such as capturing small screws when disassembling electronic devices (but somehow, we’d prefer just to have a magnet close by, not implanted!) Another purpose is to be able to sense electromagnetic fields. If the magnet is implanted in close proximity to sensitive nerve endings, it is said that an external varying (AC) electromagnetic field will cause the magnet to vibrate and a sensation can be felt at the implant site. Other uses or effects that have been reported are the sensing of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone towers, when within metres of them. Blame the ’net! Biohacking is mainly possible because the Internet allows information sharing on a massive scale and the development of communities with similar interests. It also allows scientific research and technology development outside the traditional institutions and the purchase of material from all over the world at very low cost. Biohackers are generally connected with the ideologies of transhumanism and the biopunk movement, although no such ideological commitment is necessary. In this article siliconchip.com.au A 3mm diameter by 1mm thick titanium nitride-coated neodymium magnet as sold by a biohacking supplier (https://dangerousthings. com/) and a demonstration of a possible use. August 2015  17 Eyeborg Musician Rich Lee with inductive coil around his neck and inset showing where the magnet was implanted. A technician reported being able to sense live wires or components which were to be avoided (warning, do not rely on this method to keep you safe!), feeling vibrations from an operating microwave oven nearby, sensing the power setting of an electric stove heating element and sensing of electrical on-off events inside machinery. Yet another use is to be able to distinguish between ferrous and non-ferrous materials that may be painted or, one imagines, being able to detect filler in the panels of a used car one might be interested in buying! For a video of someone using an implanted magnet see “My Magnetic Implant” https://youtu.be/kznWw1EcHXs RFID and NFC RFIDs (or Radio Frequency IDentification devices) will be familiar to many S ILICON C HIP readers. Usually unpowered, when probed with an appropriate radio signal, they return information stored on them. They are designed to act as a unique identifier for the object, animal or human they are attached A typical RFID device (as to or implanted in. These implanted in a pet) compared to a grain of rice. devices, now used by biohackers, are commonly implanted in pets and livestock for identification and are found in key fobs to open doors. They offer one-way communication only. A similar, related, device also used by biohackers is the NFC, or Near Field Communication device, a more advanced device than an RFID as they have more memory and can engage in two-way communications. These are increasingly found on smartphones and are intended to allow two devices to communicate when touched together or at least bought into close proximity. They can both send and receive data or act in a peer-to-peer mode and be paired to a variety of devices. They can also be used for contactless payment systems. 18  Silicon Chip Last month, in Part 2 of the The Bionic Eye series, the work of biohacker Neil Harbisson was mentioned. He considers himself the world’s first “cyborg” and has a “stalk” called the Eyeborg attached to his skull that enables him to translate colours into sounds in order to allow him to interpret colours. The sounds are transmitted through the bones of his skull to his ears and this enables him to hear a wider range of sounds than if he listened to them in the normal way. He suffers from having monochromatic vision and this is the only way he can interpret colour. The device is sensitive into both the UV and infrared parts of the spectrum, detecting colours beyond what the human eye is sensitive to. The device has some other functions as well, as explained last month. An Australian biohacker Australia has its own biohackers. Melbourne man Alex Smith is one example. He has several implants done either by himself or by body modification artists. One device is an implanted magnet in a finger of his left hand (as shown overleaf). Alex says that it is able to sense electromagnetic fields. For example, Alex can detect mains-voltage electrical cables which are live, although only when they are drawing a high current such as when connected to a heater, not a low current as when connected to a phone charger. He can also feel a sensation when on a tram as it is accelerating and it is drawing a high current; he also feels a sensation when walking past high-powered electrical transformers and operating microwave ovens. In addition to the magnet, he has two RFID devices and one NFC device, all of which are located in his left hand. One RFID device is rewriteable and is used for opening electronically operated doors that are compatible with the device and have the appropriate access code. It also contains medical information. The other RFID device he has implanted is read-only and has a temperature sensor, which can sense the temperature of his body at the location in which it is implanted and can wirelessly transmit the data to an external device. He is presently working on an Arduino-based device equipped with a Bluetooth transmitter to receive the temperature data and then transmit it to a phone or other device to be logged. Finally, Alex has a Near Field Communication (NFC) device implanted which enables him to access his password-protected phone without having to type in or swipe a password. One RFID device has a few tens of bytes of programmable memory and the NFC device has just under a kilobyte of programmable memory. For Alex’s next project he would like to install a multielectrode array interfaced to his nervous system, probably to the medial nerve in his forearm. What happens when new improved RFID devices are released and adopted by the biohacker community? Alex says that he will remove the existing devices (or have them removed) and have them replaced with upgraded devices. It is not feasible to simply retain the obsolete devices as there is insufficient room in the hand to do so. Alex has a website at https://cyberise.me/index.php siliconchip.com.au (Left): Examples of RFID and NFC injecting devices with chips to the right of the needles. (Middle): Alex having one of his implants injected and (Right): sewing up after the procedure. This is normally done without anaesthetic. You can hear Alex in an interview on ABC-RN on the Bodysphere program at www.abc.net.au/radionational/ programs/bodysphere/wonders2c-freaks-26-bio-hackers/6269536 His comments begin at the 20 min 18 sec mark at http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2015/03/ bse 20150308.mp3 Grindhouse Wetware Grindhouse Wetware (www.grindhousewetware.com/) is a group of six biohacking enthusiasts (three women, three men) based near Pittsburgh, USA whose premises are the basement of a house. They have developed several devices as follows: BottleNose: The BottleNose is an external device designed to interact with an implanted neodynium magnet. It is an ultrasonic rangefinder device that drives a coil, which makes the implanted magnet vibrate (so called “haptic” feedback) thus enabling a A very early prototype version of blindfolded person to the BottleNose built into a glove. sense distance information. An early prototype (v0.1) of the device can be seen in the video “BottleNose” at https://youtu.be/usfxAJKB7gA NorthStar: The NorthStar is an implantable device under development which will detect hand gestures and also be able to detect magnetic north and subdermal LEDs will glow more strongly the closer the device is pointed to magnetic north. Circadia: The Circadia was an implantable The Circadia device before computer that was con- implantation (in the plastic bag) nected to the world via with its interface unit (black). siliconchip.com.au Circadia device after implantation. Note the thickness of the device and the blue computer screen, showing data being transmitted from the device. LEDs on the unit can also be activated; when done so they can be seen glowing beneath the skin (see video). The Circadia device after it was removed. Those familiar with lithium polymer batteries will immediately recognise the reason for the device failure – a “puffed” battery. Devices made by mainstream manufacturers are subject to many years of testing and animal trials before such devices are implanted. Bluetooth, could be charged inductively through the skin, had LEDs and would also measure body temperature at the implant location. The device was about the size of a credit card but was about 10mm thick. It was implanted in the forearm of Grindhouse co-founder Tim Cannon but had to be removed some time later as there were battery problems. For a video on the implant and use of the Circadia see “Experimenting with Biochip Implants” https://youtu.be/ clIiP1H3Opw Professor Kevin Warwick: Apart from Neil Harbisson (mentioned above), there is a competing contender to the title of the world’s first cyborg in Professor Kevin Warwick, professor of Cybernetics at Reading University in the UK. In 1998 he had an RFID chip implanted in his arm. Professor Warwick is an example of a biohacker working within a mainstream institution. His RFID device was implanted by a professional medical doctor and it enabled a computer to track his movements as he walked around the university corridors. He could also remotely operate doors, lights and other devices. In 2002 he had another device, a 100-electrode array, implanted in the median nerve of the left arm. In this device a 25-channel neural signal amplifier amplifies and August 2015  19 filters the signals which are then digitised and scanned for neural events. Only 25 of the 100 electrodes could be monitored at one time. He could use this device to control an electric wheel chair and also a robotic hand. A similar device was implanted in his wife and they were able to communicate electronically via the neural interface, in the sense that if she moved her hand the electrical signal from her nerves was transmitted to him and he received a corresponding electrical stimulus but did not move his hand. The device was removed after 96 days, apparently because the leads started to deteriorate. For more details see www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/issues/ issue16/warwick.pdf A video of the implant procedure and its subsequent operation can be seen at “Kevin Warwick’s BrainGate Implant” https://youtu.be/LW6tcuBJ6-w BrainGate is now owned by Blackrock Microsystems. Also see “Kevin Warwick, Human Cyborg” https://youtu.be/ Fhu0VBCAW6k This electrode array from Blackrock Microsystems is similar to the one that Kevin Warwick had implanted. It is 4mm x 4mm with elecrodes 1.5mm long, and has a variety of lead and connector options. See www.blackrockmicro. com/index.aspx Professor Steve Mann Professor Steve Mann is another example of an institution-based biohacker. He is notable for his projects in wearable computing and in particular his EyeTap, which pre-dates Google’s Glass by a significant margin. His device, permanently attached to his skull, is like a heads-up display for the eye and records and adds enhancement information to what the wearing is seeing; for example, geographical data or statistics at a sports game or information about a building or restaurant. For a video of the device see “Steve Mann explains the EyeTap” https://youtu.be/DiFtmrpuwNY His blog is at http://eyetap.blogspot.com.au/ Memory devices Steve \ Mann’s EyeTap device which is attached to his skull. Memory Devices It would be great to have an implanted memory device that would act as your personal USB drive; one that is always with you and that you never lose. This seems not to be practical at the moment, although no doubt it will come. It is certainly feasible to get a large amount of memory into a very small space (for example, as in the microSD card format) but the problem is how to get the data in and out. Having wires, cables or tubes come through the skin is difficult enough for professional biomedical engineers to do, let alone anyone else. The process of establishing conduits through the skin 20  Silicon Chip is not reliable in the long term and is subject to infection and rejection. The only practical way way to interface an implanted memory device is through wireless radio or optical protocols. The problem with those techniques is that, even though they work, the rate of data transfer is too slow to be practical for most applications involving access to many gigabytes of data. To give an example of the sort of data rate that might be achievable through the skin (transdermally) with a radio frequency inductive link, consider that a commercial device, the Medtronic CareLink programmer for cardiac pacemakers, operates at 120Kb/s. At this speed, it would take nearly 30 hours to read the content of a typical 16GB memory card! Using an infrared optical data link through the skin at an interface speed of around 1Mb/s has been demonstrated by researchers at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory but even at this speed, it would take an unacceptably long time to read or write large amounts of data to the memory chip. Researchers at Korea University in Seoul have demonstrated data transmission rates of 10Mb/s from one area of skin to another but it is not clear if this technology could be utilised for transdermal data transmission. Even if it could, the data rate would still be very slow for memory access. It is clear then that getting large amounts of data into and out of the body at a high speed remains a challenge. Unfortunately, the dream of an implanted memory chip with high speed access to masses of data does not appear to be feasible at the moment. There is, of course, no problem if low speed data access is acceptable, as it would be for some applications. For the future – the exocortex An exocortex is a theoretical device that is interfaced to the brain and would augment the biological brain with such things as extra processing power, extra memory, access to the Internet via thought alone and various sensory and input and output devices such as wireless communications. While such hardware devices do not exist now the mere possibility to quickly and simply access the Internet anywhere we go gives a sense of what it might be like to use such a hardware device. We could discover almost any fact instantly and many people wouldn’t even bother to learn or remember things because they would know that the answer is instantly available to them (not that not learning or remembering in the traditional sense is a good thing). Biohackers might be able to make rudimentary exocortex devices via the use of EEG headsets as described below to control appropriate computer hardware. Oh the pain, the pain . . . As biohacking is in the realm of amateurs, albeit, highly informed ones, the vast majority of biohack implants are done without anaesthetic, as it would not be ethical for medical doctors to participate in this do-it-yourself surgery – especially with devices that have not been through the normal testing protocols. There are of course medical “professionals”, particularly in third-world countries who could be persuaded to do certain procedures for an appropriate fee. Such possibilities are often discussed in biohacker forums. siliconchip.com.au Video For a video on some aspects of the grinder stream of biohacking you might like to watch “Biohackers: A journey into cyborg America” https://youtu.be/K0WIgU7LRcI Warning – there are images of medical procedures done by non-surgical personnel and there is some bad language. GRINDERS – Chemical Enhancement/Diet A few examples are as follows: Human NIR vision project Some people have attempted to hack their visual system to extend the wavelengths to which the human eye is sensitive (usually around 390nm to 700nm wavelength, corresponding to 430 to 790THz). A group of four biohackers, Peyton Rowlands, Jeffrey A Tibbetts, Gabriel Licina and Ian Galvin established a crowdfunding project to see if they could use dietary means to extend their vision into the near-infrared. They are from the biohacking collective, Science for the Masses, http:// scienceforthemasses.org/ (see below for more information). The idea behind this vision hack was to replace one of the photopigments in the eye with a different one that is sensitive further into the infrared. The basis of the hack dates to 1939, when George Wald, the man who discovered the role of Vitamin A in vision, discovered a photopigment in freshwater fish that enabled them to see into the infrared (ie, wavelengths above ~700nm). The idea was to see if this fish photopigment could somehow be formed in the human eye. The human eye naturally has the photopigments photopsin in the cone cells and rhodopsin in the rods. These are made of a protein complex, comprised of opsin and and retinal or vitamin A1. The purpose of these photopigments is to convert incoming light into signals that get sent to the optic nerve to be interpreted as vision by the brain. The fish photopigment is called porphyropsin and is made of opsin and 3,4-dehydroretinol or vitamin A2 and it was expected to replace the natural photopsin and rhodopsin pigments. It was thought by the biohackers that humans could use vitamin A2 to make photopigments instead of vitamin A1 and the result would be the production of the fish photopigment instead of the human one. As the the body has a much greater affinity for A1 instead of A2 it was necessary to eliminate A1 from the diet. This was done by using a custom blend of Soylent which is a total food substitute (which did not have vitamin A of any kind) and then adding A2. Again, do not try this. Malicious biohacking This is not strictly biohacking but involves conventional, malicious computer hackers gaining access to medically implanted biomedical devices or external devices such as drug infusion pumps. Access can be gained over computer networks which connect to the device via wires or wirelessly or via Bluetooth or proprietary wireless protocols. Drug infusion pumps can infuse various drugs such as morphine, chemotherapy agents and antibiotics. The pumps are connected to patients via intravenous lines. Newer pumps may have web interfaces to enable their remote management by nursing staff and they also have built in safety features to ensure drugs are introduced within safe limits of dose over an appropriate time period. Barcodes on intravenous drug packages enable the device to know what drug is being administered and the device looks up a library which is on the local network to ensure the drug has been set to an appropriate safe dose by nursing staff. Various vulnerabilities have been found in some devices that might enable malicious hackers to alter the dose of drug being delivered. For more information see www.wired.com/2015/04/ drug-pumps-security-flaw-lets-hackers-raise-dose-limits/ Insulin pumps are connected wirelessly to a controller so that patients or medical staff can adjust various parameters. In 2011 McAfee’s Barnaby Jack demonstrated vulnerabilities of a commercial insulin pump and could take control of any device within 100 metres of him. siliconchip.com.au For more information see www.theregister.co. uk/2011/10/27/fatal insulin _pump_attack/ Implanted cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers are further devices that might be vulnerable to malicious medical hackers. In the case of the defibrillator, it was actually demonstrated by Barnaby Jack in 2012 that a laptop could be used to cause a defibrillator to either refrain from delivering a shock when necessary or to deliver one when not necessary, by using the wireless transmitter in a laptop from 10 to 15 metres away. The concern was real enough that former US Vice President, Dick Cheney, when he got his defibrillator upgraded to a later model when he was in office in 2007, asked that its wireless functionality be permanently disabled to stop hackers remotely gaining control of the device and assassinating him, although Barnaby Jack had not yet demonstrated the possibility of doing this. This scenario was also the subject of an episode of the Homeland TV series entitled Broken Heart (Season 2, Episode 10) in which a hacker gained control of the US Vice President’s pacemaker and assassinated him. There are many other medical devices that may be vulnerable to attack such as CT Scanners (they could be programmed to deliver an excessive dose of X-rays), lab analysis equipment (it could be made to give false results) and medical robots. The consequences of a hacker gaining control of a surgery robot is too horrible to even contemplate. Presumably, now that these vulnerabilities have been demonstrated, companies have taken appropriate action to improve the device’s security. August 2015  21 (Above): an epidermal electronic device as it appears when adhered to the skin. (Right): physical layout of epidermal electronic device showing various components. The project is now completed and a success was claimed with vision out to 950nm. But the project has also attracted criticism as to methodological soundness and neuroscientist Brian Jones says there is no way that photopigments can physically see light beyond 650nm. This idea was also originally tried by the US Navy during WWII, in an effort to improve night vision and the results were apparently promising but then infrared vision systems were developed. Sailors were fed the livers of walleyed pikes as a source of vitamin A2. Another type of visual enhancement is to be able to see into the ultraviolet spectrum. This has not been done by biohackers but is an incidental consequence of having the lens of the eye removed. The lens normally absorbs light in the UV spectrum but when it is removed, a condition known as aphakia occurs. Some people have been reported to be able to see UV light in the range of 300 to 400nm. (Wavelengths of light shorter than 300nm are blocked by the cornea.) Even when the lens is replaced with an artificial one, say to treat cataracts, there are reports of this ability. This “hack” is somewhat reminiscent of the software hack to remove the infrared filter from a digital camera to make it sensitive in the infrared. A retired US Air Force engineer, Alek Komarnitsky, had cataract surgery and his natural lenses were removed and replaced with artificial ones. He then discovered he could see into the UV spectrum and has a very interesting website discussing his enhanced vision. (www.komar.org/faq/colorado-cataract-surgery-crystalens/ultra-violet-color-glow/). Artist Claude Monet had one lens removed when he was 82 due to cataracts and it is said that his paintings after that demonstrated his new ability to see into the UV spectrum. Caloric restriction Night enhancement eyedrops using Chlorin E6 Brain-to-computer interfacing Another project of Science for the Masses is night-vision enhancement using the natural photosensitising chemical and anti-cancer agent Chlorin E6. This chemical is relatively easy to extract from many green plants. Just because it is “natural” does not mean it is safe to use and you should not try this. Preliminary results of this work, although not reported in peer-reviewed scientific literature, have the instigators of the study claiming some success in enhancing of night vision in healthy volunteers. Interfacing directly to the human brain is certainly a target for biohackers but opening the skull is probably too extreme for even the most ardent of them (although the subject has certainly been discussed on biohacker forums). Non-invasive external electrode attachment to read brainwaves is certainly within the scope of biohackers and a suitable device to do this would be from the Australian company Emotiv who make the EPOC+ EEG headset (see http://emotiv.com/). For further information on interfacing the brain, see SILICON CHIP, “Interfacing to the Brain”, Janu- 22  Silicon Chip Caloric restriction is a dietary biohack with claimed efficacy for lifetime extension in some non-human organisms in which it has been tried. There are many people who are subjecting themselves to a dietary regimen with limited food intake in the belief that they will live longer, healthier lives. This is not yet proven to work in humans and there could be serious side effects to one’s health, not the least of which is permanent tiredness. There are ongoing academic studies in this area. Non-invasive devices Two examples are as follows: Epidermal electronics While not strictly a biohack as it has a mainstream institution behind its development (although, as we have said, the boundaries of this technology are not strictly defined), the new area of epidermal electronics would appear to have potential uses for biohackers as it involves non-invasive devices that are applied to the skin and can be used to monitor various physiological parameters. Researchers headed by Professor Nanshu Lu at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas have developed “electronic tattoos” that can be adhered to the skin and have been demonstrated to be able to monitor EEG (brain), ECG (heart) and EMG (muscle) signals. It is also a platform for potential incorporation of temperature sensors, strain gauges, LEDs, solar cells, antennas etc. One expects that the cost of this technology will drop dramatically and will become widely available and used, including by biohackers. siliconchip.com.au Schematic of BioBrick assembly Part:BBa_ K404001 The Australianmade Emotiv EPOC+ EEG headset for reading brainwaves. Such a non-invasive device is suitable for biohackers interesting in interfacing to the brain and reading brainwaves (but not writing to the brain). ary 2015 or www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/2015/January/ Interfacing+To+The+Brain Synthetic Biology Synthetic biology is a stream of biohacking (as well as a “mainstream” discipline) involving genetic experimentation with a philosophy of free and open-source access to information. Do-it-yourself genetic engineering within minimal equipment such as in a biohacking workshop or laboratory (or even a garage or kitchen) is now feasible because of the ability to purchase custom designed or standard genetic sequences, the availability of “BioBricks” as standard genetic compoents (see below) and devices such as Open qPCR (see below). To illustrate how powerful this field has become, consider that in 2008 a Nobel Prize was won “for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, gfp”. This protein glows under UV light and has become a standard marker in biology. It represented many years of work, many scientists and state-of-the art-equipment. It is now possible for DIY biohackers to insert the gene for this protein in an organism of their choice with minimal equipment and knowledge – and even do so in a kitchen laboratory. The number of biohacker projects in synthetic biology is large but for reasons of space only a few can be discussed here. We will discuss genetic building blocks that can be used by biohackers, a glow-in-the-dark plant project and a low-cost machine for genetic analysis. research and development comes under the auspices of the BioBricks Foundation (see below). The glowing plant project This is a biohacking project in which it is intended to insert genes from animals that glow in the dark, such as the bacteria in fireflies responsible for their night-time glow, into plants. The ultimate purpose of this is to create natural night time lighting. Imagine if all the trees in a street glowed at night! It would not be necessary to have electric street lighting. The project was started by the BioCURIOUS hackerspace http://biocurious.org/ in California and funding was raised from Kickstarter. US$65,000 was sought but they raised US$484,000 instead! Information about the project can be seen at www.kickstarter.com/projects/antonyevans/glowing-plants-naturallighting-with-no-electricit/posts/1225400 For the Kickstarter video on this project see “Glowing Plant Kickstarter video” https://youtu.be/YxFQ9MkwbDs Open qPCR The polymerase chain reaction created a revolution in biology when it was developed in 1983. It allows the copying of single pieces of DNA to an unlimited extent. qPCR stands for quantitative polymerase chain reaction and it allows for the determination of the presence of a specific DNA sequence of interest in a given sample. Open qPCR (www.chaibio.com) is a low cost open- source implementation of this technology that is well within the realm of biohackers. Biobricks Traditional genetic engineering involves the creation of genetic sequences that are unique and cannot easily be reused in different organisms and cannot easily be joined to other genetic sequences. BioBricks are standardised genetic sequences for different biological functions that can be assembled by standard methodologies and joined to other BioBricks to make “biological circuits” which can then be inserted into bacteria such as E. coli to create organisms with new and novel functions. The BioBrick catalog can be viewed at http://parts.igem. org/Main_Page and http://parts.igem.org/Catalog BioBrick siliconchip.com.au Early prototype glowing plant from BioCURIOUS hackerspace. August 2015  23 Open qPCR device. The Open qPCR device can detect pathogens, genetic mutations and dangerous diseases using DNA diagnostics. Organisations and Communities There are a lot of communities and organisations that work in support of biohacking. Some of these are as follows. Australian groups If you look at http://biohacking.meetup.com/ there are listings for biohacking groups in Sydney and Melbourne. BioBricks Foundation The BioBricks Foundation (http://biobricks.org) mission is “to ensure that the engineering of biology is conducted in an open and ethical manner to benefit all people and the planet. We believe fundamental scientific knowledge belongs to all of us and must be freely available for ethical, open innovation”. Biocurious bioCURIOUS (http://biocurious.org/) is “a community of scientists, technologists, entrepreneurs and amateurs who believe that innovations in biology should be accessible, affordable, and open to everyone”. They have laboratory space in Sunnyvale, California. Among the past or present projects are a BioPrinter to “print” live cells using inkjet printer technology; a special microscope to enable the observation of living cells at high magnification and low levels of light (high levels of light tend to kill cells); a project in quantum biology – where physics meets biology; a project to engineer real vegan cheese without the use of any animals; projects in bioluminescence; biolab automation and robotics; the glowing plant project mentioned above; algae growing; development of synthetic biology tools and “bioart”. Biohack.me Biohack.me (http://biohack.me) is an online community forum and Wiki for grinders from all over the world. Counter Culture Labs Counter Culture Labs 24  Silicon Chip Screen from Open qPCR device showing test for malaria. (http://counterculturelabs.org) is “a community of scientists, tinkerers, biotech professionals, hackers, and citizen scientists who have banded together to create an open community lab — a hackerspace for DIY biology and citizen science”. They are located in Oakland, California. DIYbio.org DIYbio describes itself as “an organization dedicated to making biology an accessible pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur biologists, and DIY biological engineers who value openness and safety”. Their website is at http://diybio.org/ There are DIYbio groups throughout the world including in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. Genspace Genspace (http://genspace. org) “is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting education in molecular biology for both children and adults. We work inside and outside of traditional settings, providing a safe, supportive environment for training and mentoring in biotechnology”. They only work with safe Biosafety Level One organisms. The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation The iGEM (www.igem.org/Main_ Page) is an international competition in synthetic biology open to students at all levels, entrepreneurs, community laboratories and others. Competitors are given a kit of standard biological genetic sequences, BioBricks from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts (see above) and the objective is to assemble these components into a living organism and have it express new or novel properties. For a video of an interesting past project about the colour changing protein from squid called reflectin, see the segment starting at 20 min 57 seconds in the “Playing God” documentary referenced below. BioBricks have now been created to use this protein so it can be used as a standard component in future projects. siliconchip.com.au Science for the Masses Science for the Masses (http:// scienceforthemasses.org) is an independent biohacking community composed of professionals from a number of technical and scientific areas. Quoting from them, their mission is to “to aid in the development of ‘citizen science’; we want to see the tools and resources necessary to perform scientific research made available to anyone that wants them. To this end, all of our research is and will be published free and open source, and will be repeatable by the layperson—meaning no multimillion dollar lab equipment.” Among Science for the Masses’ current or recent projects are the Human NIR project and administration of the drug chlorin e6 to enhance night vision described above. Criticism of Synthetic Biology Biohacking Synthetic biology as practised by biohackers has attracted some criticism, as it is feared that a biohacker might inadvertently create a dangerous toxin or organism, or worse, bioterrorists might deliberately do so. This fear is countered by the fact that something suitable as a bioweapon is unlikely to be accidentally produced and that it would require advanced knowledge to produce such a weapon. Such advanced knowledge already exists in the institutional laboratories of countries that promote terrorism and is accessible by terrorists so the point seems moot. Biohacking smartphone apps Biohacking doesn’t have to involve external hardware, implants, chemistry or biology. Some biohacking involves “self quantification”, that is, measuring some aspect of your body’s performance and then improving it. There are many apps but a few randomly selected ones designed to improve your mental abilities are as follows: Quantified Mind is a free app that was developed to measure such parameters as reaction time, executive function, verbal learning, motor skills, context switching, visual perception, short-term memory and many more. You can see what effect things like smart drugs, coffee or meditation have on your mind. See www.quantified-mind.com/ Peak – Brain Training is an app which according to the developer “is a personalized self-improvement app specifically designed to help you train your Memory, Focus, Problem Solving, Mental Agility and Language skills with fun, challenging games, reaching goals and building healthy habits.” See https:// itunes.apple.com/us/app/peak-brain-training/ id806223188?mt=8 BrainWars allows you to develop your mental abilities by competing against other people, either anonymous or ones you know. It is mainly intended to improve your concentration. Available from Apple App Store or Google Play. Conclusion Biohacking is becoming more popular and more practical. The vast information dissemination capability of the Internet has ensured that the average citizen can participate in augmenting the human body and doing potentially advanced biology. Something as simple as the insertion of a tiny magnet in a finger gives some people another sense. Other biohackers are trying much more ambitious implants. In synthetic biology the discovery and development of the jellyfish green fluorescent protein won a Nobel prize in 2008. This protein can now be inserted into an organism in a kitchen laboratory by people with no significant scientific training. The advances are breathtaking. The future is promising, access to huge amounts of data are readily available, supportive online communities exist and the future of biohacking seems bright as long as people continue to do the sensible and right thing. SC A VIDEO TO WATCH An interesting BBC Horizon documentary “Playing God” (http://watchdocumentary.org/watch/playing-god-video_ fe8c719f5.html) talks about synthetic biology in general but also has a section on biohackers starting at around the 38 minute mark. siliconchip.com.au Radio, TV & Hobbies April 1939-March 1965 The complete archive on DVD: every article to enjoyonce again 4Every issue individually archived by month and year  4Complete with index for each year – a must-have for  anyone interested in electronics. This remarkable archival collection spans nearly three decades of Australia’s own Radio & Hobbies and Radio, TV & Hobbies magazines,from April 1939 right through to the final issue in March 1965. Every article is scanned into PDF format ready to read and reread at your leisure on your home computer (obviously, a computer with a DVD-ROM is required, along with Acrobat Reader 6 or later (Acrobat Reader is a free download from Adobe). For history buffs, it’s worth its weight in gold. For anyone with even the vaguest interest in Australia’s radio and television history (and much more) what could be better? For students, this archive gives an extraordinary ILICON HIP insight into the amazing breakthroughs in radio NB: requires a computer and electronics following the war years (and with DVD reader to view speaking of the war, R&H had some of the best – will not play on a propaganda you’re ever likely to see!) standard audio/Video This is one DVD which you must have in your DVD player. collection! ONLY $ 00 62 plus P&P Only available from S C ORDER ONLINE NOW AT WWW.SILICONCHIP.COM.AU August 2015  25