A Lab of His Own

Cathal Garvey dropped out of a PhD program to create a DIY biotech lab in his family's house in County Cork, Ireland, says Technology Review. "Would I finish and get a few letters after my name, or seize the day and do something that needed to be done?" he tells Tech Review. Garvey says he plans to show that biology can be done on a limited budget and in an open-source way, and is developing Bacillus subtilis as a model organism for at-home biologists. Tech Review adds that while scientists like George Church support the DIY movement, it does face challenges, particularly concerning funding and regulations. Concerning the latter, Garvey has a license from Ireland's environmental agency to create genetically modified organisms. "The dream," Garvey tells Tech Review, "is to program life, play around, where it doesn't cost you anything to fail."