BioCurious: Could the next Apple emerge from this hackerspace for biotech?

43 years ago in Menlo Park, CA, a motley group with a shared passion for electronics started getting together to trade integrated circuits, help each other work on projects, and share knowledge about the nascent field of personal computing. They called themselves the Homebrew Computer Club. Steve Wozniak, a member since day one, says without it, there “would probably be no Apple computers.” In addition to Apple, about twenty other companies got their start there.

Four decades later and a few miles down the road, another organization is charting a parallel course: BioCurious: “A hackerspace for biotech.” The passion folks share here may be in a different sector, but their thirst for knowledge, entrepreneurial zeal, and collaborative spirit are strikingly similar.

As Executive Director Maria Chavez points out, “If you want to do biology right now, it’s very institutionalized. There are two places you can work on biology — in a university or at a pharma company.” One of the first DIY biolabs in the world, BioCurious wants to open up new paths and “democratize biology” by channeling the mojo of the maker movement and translating it to biology.

BioCurious is a non-profit, all-volunteer laboratory, training center and meeting place for biohackers, citizen scientists, entrepreneurs, hobbyists, students and anyone else interested in biotechnology. Their credo: “We believe that innovations in biology should be accessible, affordable, and open to everyone. We’re building a community biology lab for amateurs, inventors, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to experiment with friends.”

BioCurious isn’t the only such hackerspace for life sciences; In SOSV’s Spaces and Places Youtube series, we covered GenSpace, a similar space that got opened just a few months earlier in New York City, in 2010. And, Berkeley Biolabs exists for those on the other end of the Bay, an hour away from BioCurious’ Santa Clara home.

BioCurious’ cup runneth over with equipment and materials donated by Silicon Valley area companies and labs — PCR machines, centrifuges, -86° freezers, spectrophotometers, plate readers, advanced microscopy, electrophysiology equipment, and more. Since moving into their new digs earlier this year, they’re even able to offer a tissue culture lab — something that’s long been in high demand.

Will this access to technology and knowledge help launch the next Apple of biotech? Time will tell, but one thing’s already certain: people of all ages are taking advantage of the resources at BioCurious to do real science — from startups that rent bench space, to individuals like the Lyft driver working on a groundbreaking electrophysiology project, to the 17 year old who won the Bay Area science fair and is now getting VC interest for his novel way to get CRISPR into cells.

Steve Wozniak describes a contagious enthusiasm permeating the Homebrew Computer Club. “Everyone attending the club in 1975–76 knew there was a big computer revolution occurring, and the rest of the world wasn’t aware of it yet. That’s why there was so much excitement and spirit. We were finally going to get control of our own computers.”

A few years from now, will a biotech Wozniak say the same thing about BioCurious and a revolution in biology? Stay tuned. Or stop by BioCurious and see for yourself…

Check out SOSV’s tour of BioCurious and conversation with Maria Chavez:

More reading: Here’s an article by Steve Wozniak about the origins of Apple and the Homebrew Computer Club.