This website will take you on a journey of bioengineering, even if you have no prior experience and have no suitable gear whatsoever (or so you think). All you need is an idea and some basic household items, and we will help you figure out the steps that you can take to make it a reality! You might have to buy some biological agents or maybe you can find them in your surroundings - bacteria, fungi, various tissues are everywhere!

People are concerned about biohacking at home because they are afraid that they will fail a part of the procedure. Scare of failing comes from unclear instructions, therefore instructions should be as clear as possible.

Consider that that one, who writes the protocol, is writing a program that should run on any computer (person), regardless of previous knowledge. When a person reads this protocol, even if they have no previous knowledge of biology, engineering or any of these processes, they should be able to follow through the protocol and gain knowledge about terms and procedures in the process of following these steps.

Philosophy:

  • Step-by-step instructions, clear, avoiding jargon.
    • Example: 1. Fill 15% of pressure cooker volume with water. You can figure out the volume by looking at instruction manual or by measuring it with measuring cup.
  • If a particular procedure is needed with a fancy name - say sterilization - link to a specific protocol, and plug in necessary parameters.
    • Example: Sterilize(link) resulting mixture (media) for 40 minutes at 15 PSI
  • List specific commercial products this protocol has been validated with.
    • Example: Presto 23qt pressure cooker (model no: 01784)
  • Introduce jargon in a flowing manner, highlight terms when giving them definitions.
    • Example: Mix agar powder and water. The resulting mixture is called media, this is what bacteria is going to grow on.
  • Explain motivation for the procedure
    • Example: Sterilization is a procedure that removes contaminants by deactivating (killing) microorganisms through means of high pressure and temperature.
  • Use common and SI units when describing measurements
    • Example: Temperature of water vapor reaches 121° Celsius under pressure of 15 PSI (pounds per sqaure inch) or 104,000 Pascals.
  • Use pictures when it’s tough to explain things with words
    • Example: Cover the bottom of pressure cooker with small rocks to elevate the trivet
  • Explain the underlying process in each step
    • Example: Adding sugar to agar provides the bacteria with carbon necessary for their growth, just like carbohydrates
  • Safety and disposal of biohazard waste has to be explained and motivated
    • Example: Working in gloves protects your hands from exposure to bacteria. Containers with bacteria should be soaked in bleach (dilute with water - 1 part bleach + 9 parts water) first, and then disposed of as regular garbage.

Disclaimer

Do at your own risk. All information comes as is, we do not hold any liability.

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