Jason Bobe

"Researchers from the University of Colorado swabbed dozens of showerheads in nine American cities, using ribosomal RNA sequences to catalog the microbes present. While most of the microbes in the showerheads were harmless and fairly predictable, the team was surprised to find a potentially pathogenic species called Mycobacterium avium in several showerheads from the metropolitan areas tested." - Jason Bobe from Bookmarklet

"In all likelihood, the right way to regulate biohacking will not become apparent for some time. But some people think that any regulation at all could be harmful. Dr Carlson, who has a book on biohacking coming out later this year, is a proponent of light regulation at most. “If you look at our ability to respond to infectious diseases at this point in time, we’re essentially helpless,” he says. “The quandary we face is that we need the garage hackers, because that’s where innovation comes from.” Freeman Dyson, a venerable and polymathic physicist who has been thinking about the problem, is also a believer in biological innovation. He has written about a variety of futuristic possibilities, including modified trees that are better than natural ones at absorbing carbon dioxide, and termites that can eat old cars. If regulation of biohacking is too tight, such innovations—or, at least, things like them—might never come to pass." - Jason Bobe from Bookmarklet

"The PGP's open approach is pragmatic: society has much to gain from unrestricted access to genome sequences, medical histories and phenotypic data. For example, only by knowing how traits, experience and genes interact can we discover how both environmental factors and DNA affect disease. The prospect of such progress was a major factor in my family's decision to get involved. Whatever our fears about privacy, we have chosen to cast them aside for the greater cause. But no one who chooses to have their DNA tested should expect perfect anonymity - especially since DNA is the ultimate identifier." - Jason Bobe from Bookmarklet

"We are so disconnected from the living world that we can live in the midst of a mass extinction, of the rapid invasion everywhere of new and noxious species, entirely unaware that anything is happening. Happily, changing all this turns out to be easy. Just find an organism, any organism, small, large, gaudy, subtle — anywhere, and they are everywhere — and get a sense of it, its shape, color, size, feel, smell, sound...meditate, luxuriate in its beetle-ness, its daffodility. Then find a name for it. Learn science’s name, one of countless folk names, or make up your own. To do so is to change everything, including yourself. Because once you start noticing organisms, once you have a name for particular beasts, birds and flowers, you can’t help seeing life and the order in it, just where it has always been, all around you." - Jason Bobe from Bookmarklet

Independent review of proposed experiments with potential biosecurity implications. - Jason Bobe from Bookmarklet

"ViXra.org is an e-print archive set up as an alternative to the popular arXiv.org service owned by Cornell University. It has been founded by scientists who find they are unable to submit their articles to arXiv.org because of Cornell University's policy of endorsements and moderation designed to filter out e-prints that they consider inappropriate. ViXra is an open repository for new scientific articles. It does not endorse e-prints accepted on its website, neither does it review them against criteria such as correctness or author's credentials." - Jason Bobe from Bookmarklet

Biogeography of bugs as determined from windshield scrapings + nextgen sequencing! - Jason Bobe from Bookmarklet