Genetic Engineering: Genetically Modifying Organisms for Fun and Profit
Johan Sosa introduces foundational genetic engineering techniques, explaining how community biohackers modify bacteria to express fluorescent proteins.
Summary
Introduction to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Genetic engineering involves precisely introducing foreign recombinant DNA into host organisms to express novel enzymes, proteins, or biological functions.
Fundamentals of Gene Expression and Transformation
Johan Sosa explains promoters, ribosomal binding sites, coding sequences, and terminators required for stable protein expression in bacteria.
Hands-On Protocols for Expressing GFP Proteins
Sosa walks through culturing bacteria, introducing Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) plasmids, and verifying fluorescence under ultraviolet illumination.
Applications in Brewing, Materials, and Art
The presentation explores practical community biohacking projects—spanning custom yeast strains for brewing to bio-materials and bio-art.
Related talks
Village Presentations·24 min
Keoni Gandall
Synthetic biology researcher Keoni Gandall demonstrates designing, assembling, and transforming synthetic DNA in a home laboratory setting.
Biohacking Village·18 min
Travis Lawrence
Computational methods to decode the second genetic code—the rules governing which amino acids transfer RNAs carry—revealing variability that can be exploited in synthetic biology.
Village Presentations·53 min
David Whitlock · Jasmina Aganovic
David Whitlock and Jasmina Aganovic present a control-systems approach to human physiology, treating biological homeostasis, nitric oxide, and the skin microbiome as hackable systems.


