Biohackers: the DIY biologists out to barcode all Hong Kong’s plants, insects and animals
How can you conserve things if you don’t know what is out there and where, asks scientist Gert Grobler, leader of a group aiming to sequence the genes of every living thing in city and possibly find new species
The word “hacker” usually conjures images of a youth in a hoodie, plotting a cyber attack from his basement. Hong Kong-based genetic biologist Gert Grobler doesn’t fit that description – he’s a hacker of a very different sort.
Grobler, who hails from South Africa, is the founder of DIYbio, a grass-roots initiative set up in March to build a community laboratory in Hong Kong where citizen scientists can come together to conduct biological experiments.
These do-it-yourself scientists have set the bar extremely high for their first major project: they intend to “barcode” Hong Kong’s entire biodiversity.
The barcoding project is a first for Hong Kong, where until now only small-scale genetic studies have been carried out.
“Hong Kong has a very small land area. There’s a lot of development happening all the time. Before we decide to construct in certain areas, we should at least be aware of what’s living there,” Grobler says, adding that there are a lot of species that haven’t been found.
In the future, DIYbio hopes to get local schools involved. “It’s an enormous task; it’s almost an impossible task. So that’s why it’s the perfect community project.