PS1 Open Science Meeting of 7/15/12
A. Welcome/open meeting (3:30 pm)
B. Minutes from 5/20/12 (5 min - zip through, any questions? - 3:35 pm)
[For now, regular attendees get program votes, eventually replaced by small fee, ~$10?, to PS1 OR PS1 membership]
Time unrecorded:
Recorded attendees:
Patrick, Sheila, Anthony, Greg, Rich, Sacha, Steve, Karl, Eric, Excalibur, Dillon, Ben (12 total)
“Beer Church” was mentioned as occurring earlier, occasionally, on
Sundays at PS1.
Sacha briefly described the 24-hour Chicago Science Hack Day at the
Adler Planetarium. Biocomputing was mentioned.
Sheila mentioned Start-up Science workshop, which is an event in San
Francisco on open source contributions to open science
Sheila mentioned that the “Illinois Science Council” offers *free*
lectures on topics of popular interest (it is a science program for
adults). They just finished a series on the brain, including one at
Northwestern U. about MRI studies of convergent and divergent
components of creative thinking. I believe she said that with the
right EEG helmets, controlled settings, and programs, we might be able
to contribute to that sort of research at some point. She expressed
interest in working with anyone toward the goal of an EEG helmet (and
people mentioned a couple games in which mental concentration can move
things through use of an EEG cap and other components – one was Star
Wars themed).
Anthony asked people what interested them, and started by asking Gerry
(interests: open science hardware, cell biology, microscopy and
fluorescence work) to give an in-depth explanation of the sorts of
features a biohacking lab would need. Some elements included a
centrifuge, a class II biosafety fume hood with a heppa filter, petri
dishes, an autoclave. Sacha mentioned the elements he had planned for
including a chemistry fume hood, workbenches and equipment. Laminar
countertops would be fine but he generally uses tin foil under his
work to protect surfaces. We need a class II clean room primarily as a
“room that is clean” or a normal lab room without sawdust , dust,
etc., floating in it. The frame of the room would be PVC and vinyl
with a positive air pressure through a heppa filter. It can be assumed
that some people will fail to close the door promptly at times, but
positive air pressure will help to keep the room clean. Gerry
mentioned that Jim had ideas about isolating DNA and genotyping cells
that may be of interest. A PCR machine would be important and there
are open source designs for PCR machines. Such a machine could be used
for sequencing polymorphism analysis. It is illegal to practice
medicine without a license, so we can’t diagnose disease, and we need
to be careful about how any such information is handled, but useful
tests can be done including finding out if your cytochrome P-450
system makes you a fast or slow metabolizer of drugs.
Rich – electrical engineer interested in biology and open source
Greg – bioengineering department via physics
Anthony or Greg mentioned dry lab participation in Monte Carlo and
astrophysics simulations
Steve mentioned he has background in computer science, optical and
acoustic physics, diffraction microscopy, soil studies, and recently
high voltage experiments
Anthony expressed interest in fluid flow experiments
Sacha and Sheila collected information for their presentation to the
FBI at BioCurious.
Just before the meeting ended Rich mentioned that while it probably
fell under building codes, we should make sure electrical equipment is
grounded in a wet lab.
MEETING ADJOURNED at 4:45 PM (longer than anticipated)
As a first Open Science Journal Club presentation SANS PIZZA(!)
Anthony explained the technical physics behind the way a spectrometer
functions to enable us to determine material composition.
C. Points to be discussed:
1) General Announcements (30 min--4:05 pm)
i.) New coordinator needed!, would be small time commitment, need someone to fill in when Ben isn’t there, help take minutes/help edit the meeting agendas
ii.) Sheila and Sacha went to FBI DIY Bio Workshop in San Francisco--summary of trip, explain relevant points?
iii.) Anthony, Jenny, and Trae went to IL Science Council lectures--one at Fermilab called “The Frontiers of Fundamental Physics by David Gross and the other at Argonne called “The Solar Energy Challenge” by Seth Darling--highlights?
2) Projects: approximately 0 min
i) No project/proposal submissions this month (0 minutes)
3) Non-Project Topics - 20 min (4:25 pm)
ii) Lab materials, space planning-new space! (20 min)
-take look around new space, see how much space we have & where lab would be in relation to other areas
-prices for items--where to look for lab equipment
-lab layout and space planning
Tabled for a meeting in the distant future, when we actually have a lab:
5) Informal monitoring process: 10-20 min
Eventual concern - not anytime soon
- lab manager notification
- list announcement or scheduling program announcement
- tags to flag attention of IRB-lite domain-knowledgeable people
Interest in making a lab scheduling/announcement program eventually? (comp sci/programming)
Interest in a Lab Manager eventually? (Anyone)
Informal, voluntary IRB-lite deference in areas on list & in meetings
- Gerry in _???
- Will in _ bio, chem, physics
- Jim in _bio
- Sacha in_chem
D.) Any other business? (<5-10 min; 4:35 pm)
-see what projects people in the room are really excited about for open science
-maybe discuss probable research areas in general, and primary lab equipment needed for each discipline
E.) Arrange/announce details of next meeting (5 min; 4:40 pm)
- Close meeting (total time: 1 hr 10 min or 60 min)
F.) 2nd Open Science Journal Club presentations
Informal open discussion at PS1 for a while or somewhere nearby if it is closed, like Burger King. Sadly, La Finca is closed on Sundays.
See you at 3:30 pm!