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Researchers at the NanoRobotics Laboratory of the École Polytechnique de Montréal, under Professor Sylvain Martel, produced this remarkable video showing a swarm of about 5,000 flagellated bacteria--of a type which are subject to manipulation by magnetic fields--being directed to assemble six 100 μm epoxy bricks into the shape of a tiny step pyramid. IEEE Spectrum explains:

The bacteria, of a type known as magnetotactic, contain structures called magnetosomes, which function as a compass. In the presence of a magnetic field, the magnetosomes induce a torque on the bacteria, making them swim according to the direction of the field. Place a magnetic field pointing right and the bacteria will move right. Switch the field to point left and the bacteria will follow suit.

The corresponding paper title is surely one of the best I've ever read: "A Robotic Micro-Assembly Process Inspired By the Construction of the Ancient Pyramids and Relying on Several Thousands of Flagellated Bacteria Acting as Workers." [Thanks, Glen!]

More:

• Harnessing bacteria to turn gears
• Biohacked bacteria possibly useful for landmine detection
• Bacterial typography
• Decomposing plastic with bacteria
• Beach drawn with fluorescent bacteria
• HOW TO - Grow bioluminescent bacteria

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Kyle, James and David of Otyp have designed a kit for teaching kids the biological equivalent of writing "Hello, world" and they'd like to share with more kids in the classroom. With this kit, kids start with the gene from a jellyfish that makes it glow green and they insert it into bacteria. They grow a colony of fluorescent bacteria. Kids can learn about some of the fundamental processes behind biotechnology and they can also have fun, using the bacteria to paint an image that glows in the dark. I met the Otyp team at Maker Faire Detroit where they were demonstrating the process. Kyle made a pretty cool poster from the photos of the various creations people made during Maker Faire.

The team at Otyp would like to share this kit with public schools around the country — for free. They've set up the Speak Science fund and they're using Kickstarter to raise money to build these kits. Please consider supporting this project and helping them get these kits into the hands of more kids. The goal is to get kids doing science — not just reading about it.

In an Xconomy article on Maker Faire Detroit, James said that he was "appalled by the tremendous low quality of exposure to real science that high schoolers were getting." He wanted to do something about that from a DIY perspective. The Otype team is working on these kits and an inexpensive PCR machine for the experiments.

Kids don't get to see how biologists invent and discover using DNA until they take advanced biology courses at the university level; students who don't want to commit to becoming biologists never get to experience how exciting the science can be, and for that reason, most students are never taught how biotechnology works at all.

This is just one example of what needs to be done to create hands-on science and technology programs in our schools — and we need hundreds more. Please consider supporting Otyp and the mission on making science come alive for kids. There's even a way to target your donation so that a school of your choice can get the kids.

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Amateur biotech is starting to heat up -- witness Biocurious, the new biology-focused hackerspace. DIY bio enthusiast Cathal Garvey analyzes the state of affairs:

DIYbio and its more professionally oriented cousin, Garage Biotech, are undergoing a revolution at present. Essential equipment that used to cost thousands is now available at affordable prices, in many cases under open licensing schemes and open to community development. Knowledge of biology, genetics and the procedures underlying it all is being disseminated in ever-more-abstracted forms to make it easier to get started. And soon, even the biological components: strains, enzymes and substrates, will likely become mass-marketable.

It's an exciting time to be involved in the development of tomorrow's technology, and sometimes I find myself stepping back to consider what we have, and what we still need. I may as well share these musings with others to spare them the time, and perhaps to inspire someone with the know-how to fill in the gaps and help make this happen.

An Analysis of What #DIYbio Has and What It Needs [Via VoxelFab]

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Depending on your tolerance for preserved corpses, this may strike you as incredibly cool or incredibly creepy. Maybe a little bit of both. Personally, I lean toward the "cool" side. "Clearing and staining" is actually a very old technique in anatomy and biology in which a dead animal is treated with a series of chemicals that simultaneously preserve it, render its soft tissues transparent, and stain its skeletal and nervous systems different colors. The resulting preserved specimens are both scientifically useful and, often, strikingly beautiful. These pictures are from a Japanese gallery; here's an English-language gallery of mutant frog specimens that are also pretty amazing. [via Core77]

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