Glowing Plants: Crowdsourced Genetic Engineering Project Ignites Controversy
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - 07:00
in Mathematics & Economics
In April three biohackers from a California Do-It-Yourself biology lab, BioCurious , posted a Kickstarter campaign to crowdsource their plan to bioengineer a glowing plant . They asked for $65,000. But by the close of their campaign at midnight on Thursday, June 6, they had raised a remarkable $484,013. (Meanwhile, BioCurious itself is in financial trouble.) It was the first time anyone had kick-started a genetic engineering project. The group had hit upon a new method for funding biotech, one that’s faster, cheaper and requires less expertise than traditional grants or venture capital. Crowdsourcing does require public buy in, however, and this case raises a thorny hitch--ethically, environmentally and perhaps legally. [More]