Week 1 HW: Principles and Practices

🧬 Week 1 Homework Components

📋 Professor Questions & Answers

Detailed scientific answers to questions from:

Professor Jacobson — DNA polymerase error rates, genetic code degeneracy
Dr. LeProust — Oligonucleotide synthesis methods and limitations
Professor Church — Essential amino acids and the “Lysine Contingency”

🔬 BioVolt Project - DIY Electroporation Device

Complete end-to-end project documentation including governance assessment and interactive Python application.

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BioVolt Governance Assessment — Policy Options Comparison - I filled this out anyways but the project is located in the Sub as the Cat suggested- Meow

The table below compares three governance approaches for the BioVolt DIY electroporation device across multiple criteria. Scoring: 3 = Best, 2 = Moderate, 1 = Worst.

Criteria	Option 1: Community Self-Governance	Option 2: Safety Warnings & Labels	Option 3: Regulatory Licensing
ENHANCE BIOSECURITY
• By preventing incidents	2	2	3
• By helping respond	3	1	2
FOSTER LAB SAFETY
• By preventing incident	2	2	3
• By helping respond	3	1	3
PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT
• By preventing incidents	2	2	3
• By helping respond	3	1	2
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
• Minimizing costs and burdens	3	2	1
• Feasibility?	3	3	1
• Not impede research	3	2	1
• Promote constructive applications	3	2	1

Option Summaries

Option 1 — Community-Led Self-Governance:
✓ Best for: response capacity, feasibility, minimizing burdens, not impeding research
✗ Weaker on: prevention (relies on voluntary participation; rogue actors may ignore)

Option 2 — Targeted Product Restrictions (Safety Warnings/Labels):
✓ Best for: feasibility, moderate prevention without bans
✗ Weaker on: response capacity (warnings don’t help after incidents), limited impact on determined bad actors

Option 3 — Regulatory Classification (Licensing/HVA Review):
✓ Best for: prevention (permits, training, HVA peer review blocks worst misuse)
✗ Weaker on: costs, feasibility, impedes DIY research, harms global equity

Recommendation: Prioritize Option 1 (community self-governance) as primary, combine with Option 2 (warnings) as secondary safeguard. Avoid Option 3 unless clear evidence of high-risk proliferation emerges.