News

The Cambridge SynBio IRC is pleased to announce it's new status as one of the University of Cambridge's Interdisciplinary Research Centres.

I'm an imaging specialist based in the Department of Zoology with a background in biology and bioinformatics. I have no formal training in any aspect of engineering, but I enjoy working on open hardware projects when the opportunity or need arises. I first heard about XOD at the 2018 Biomaker Fayre last autumn and was excited about its potential to enable people with limited or no coding experience to program microcontrollers. For more experienced users, it offers rapid prototyping of hardware.

From Auckland to Zagreb, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) laboratories are "popping" up in cities across the world. Organised around open-source principles, these independent community-based science research hubs, often set up by Scientists and Science Enthusiasts to learn, experiment and get involve with the world of STI advancement. These "citizen laboratories" are flourishing because they are attracting volunteers, communities, groups, and venture capitalists, making them alternative homes for talent located within and beyond the theoretical boundaries of universities keen to open up the processes of science, technology, and innovation to the public (Hecker et al., 2018; Sleator, 2016; Landrain, 2013).