Under revision
The Biomaker site is being expanded to cover new approaches to low code programming and improved hardware. The old site with extensive resources that employ XOD as a visual programming environment is linked here as an archive. Revised material that describes new tools and projects will be compiled here (biomaker.org) and at openrig.science
The Biomaker platform...
Biomaker is free resource for open source tools and information that helps to enable researchers, students, and hobbyists to build scientific instruments and experimental setups using off-the-shelf components and open source software. Biomaker includes a training platform that has been based on a series of microcontroller boards including support for a variety of hardware components, such as microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators, as well as a set of software tools and libraries for programming and controlling these components. We have been using a visual programming language for Arduino-compatible microcontrollers, XOD (xod.io) which provides a dataflow model for programming interactive devices. However, recent years have seen the emergence of more powerful hardware and disruption of the development of XOD. The organisers, Matt Wayland and Jim Haseloff in Cambridge are developing updated resources for Biomaker, which are described on this website (biomaker.org), and a new site at openrig.science
The aims of these updates to Biomaker are to (i) support modern ESP32 microcontrollers which provide dual benefits of improved performance and low cost; (ii) adopt a free environment that allows no-code/low-code visual programming and a pathway to Python and use of AI assistants; and (iii) integrated development of graphical interfaces for producing touchscreen-based user interfaces.
Jim Haseloff has recently retired from his academic role at the University of Cambridge, and is focusing on demonstration projects to produce low cost tools for open science. For example, key projects are:
Air-flow driven microtube reactors for isothermal DNA modification, assembly, and LAMP reactions, and thermocycling PCR amplification
Particle inflow gene gun for plant transformation
Custom optical systems for whole plant observation.
Sensor and control systems for plant propagation
The shift in emphasis from training to the implementation of practical devices is documented here, and comes with a more personal viewpoint, as these projects are aligned with work developing free tools for bioengineering in plants (details can be found at marchantia.org). Online updates can be found on Bluesky (@jimhaseloff).
Wet and dry tools for biology on 'sister' websites
Biomaker tools enable new approaches in simple biological systems
The streamlined tools for building advanced instrumentation described at biomaker.org provide new opportunities for democratising biological science and engineering. Harnessing 3D printing, commodity electronics and visual programming will make sophisticated research tools more accessible globally for schools, community labs and hobbyists. There has been a parallel development of simple biological systems and DNA tools that complement this. The sister site marchantia.org describes ways of working with the simple liverwort plant, Marchantia polymorpha. Marchantia has some unusual features that are similar to those thought to be shared with early terrestrial plants - which provide a host of benefits for experiments in engineering. More information can be found on the website.
biomaker.org