November 2016
Tree of 40 Fruits
Sam van Aken will talk about his tree of 40 fruits project and discuss with the makers at the DAI Heidelberg.
Find out more »Beer&Biology
“Brewing is the art of feeding sugar to yeast.” — Jeff Frane, 1994, Zymurgy Microbes surround our environment, cover ourselves inside out. In the process of exploting energy sources, they transform substances into something else, sometimes disgusting, sometimes delightful. Food fermentation tries to harness the power of microbes to produce great taste, memorable aromas and interesting smells. Indeed, most of the flavor associated with fermented food comes from substances produced by the bacteria themselves. It just takes to stop and…
Find out more »LowCost PCR workshop
Background The era of personal DNA testing is here, with the diffusion of affordable, personal devices such as BentoLab and MiniPCR. Many DIYbio spaces already offer the possibility of conducting PCR tests. DIYbio gives citizens the opportunity to question the world around them. DNA is in every living being, and each organism has its own particular DNA sequence. PCR is extremely sensitive, able to detect even the tiniest amount of the DNA you're looking for. If the DNA is present,…
Find out more »Heidelberg Science Slam: Evolution
A science slam about evolution organized by the Heidelberg Science Slam
Find out more »February 2017
Biohacking: Spectrometry Workshop
Background After the PCR workshop, we continue our adventure in do-it-yourself biology by giving you yet another tool to explore your health, environment and food. This time we'll build a spectrometer, an instrument which is able to detect the exact light wavelengths absorbed or emitted by a substance. In the same way a fingerprint identifies each individual human, from the light spectrum it is possible to identify and quantify different substances. Many DIY spectrometers have been developed by citizen science…
Find out more »March 2017
Make Rhein-Main 2017
Biotop takes part to the Make Rhein-Main faire this year! We'll be together with the Heidelberg Makerspace and we'll present there our DIY biohacking equipment! We'll try to bring our PCR machine and our spectrometer plus some plasticware and reagents to run mock PCRs and check interesting absorbance spectra. If you're curious about biohacking and DIYbio, don't miss our stand!
Find out more »Make Rhein-Main 2017
Biotop takes part to the Make Rhein-Main faire this year! We'll be together with the Heidelberg Makerspace and we'll present there our DIY biohacking equipment! We'll try to bring our PCR machine and our spectrometer plus some plasticware and reagents to run mock PCRs and check interesting absorbance spectra. If you're curious about biohacking and DIYbio, don't miss our stand!
Find out more »April 2017
Biotop @ March for Science
Biotop Community Lab e.V. takes part to the worldwide March for Science in support of critical thinking and informed decision-making! We have set up an interactive educational activity on DNA barcoding! All you need is your smartphone and curiosity! Look around for trees along the march path to discover more about what DNA barcoding is and how it can be used. Hope to see you all there!
Find out more »March 2018
Grow-it-yourself Mushroom Material Workshop – Part 1
Background The first workshop of this year will be about biomaterials! For most of us, mushrooms are an ingredients found on pizza or risotto. But after this workshop, not anymore. With entirely different eyes, you will see mushrooms as a new building material to manufacture objects, furniture and even buildings. If you think about it, we use living organisms as manufacturing material all the time: furniture is made with trees, clothes with cotton flowers and fur or skin and more.…
Find out more »Grow-it-yourself Mushroom Material Workshop – Part 2
Background The first workshop of this year will be about biomaterials! For most of us, mushrooms are an ingredients found on pizza or risotto. But after this workshop, not anymore. With entirely different eyes, you will see mushrooms as a new building material to manufacture objects, furniture and even buildings. If you think about it, we use living organisms as manufacturing material all the time: furniture is made with trees, clothes with cotton flowers and fur or skin and more.…
Find out more »