Mac Cowell
= Mac Cowell is one of the co-founders of DIYBio [1].
Bio
Cowell, 25, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an undergraduate degree in biology from Davidson College, North Carolina, and used to manage a research wiki for the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After a year he decided to start his own project and founded DIYBio along with Bobe, Jason.
From an interview: “I was disappointed with the huge barrier of entry for average people, or for anyone who wants to get involved but is not already in a PhD program. The open-source computer-programming movement became ubiquitous, and computers became a platform that enabled a huge amateur or hobbyist culture of people to push the field further. Many people got organized and started working on projects collaboratively. So why can't we do that with biology? Why does all biology happen in academic or industrial labs? What's the barrier to entry for doing something interesting in biology? It's a four- to seven-year PhD program. There must be another opportunity”.
More Information
- DIYBio : DIYBio– do-it-yourself biology – is an organization based in the USA, which aim is “to help make biology a worthwhile pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur biologists, and DIY biological engineers who value openness and safety”. Their practices of biohacking are related to a 'democratization of science' they want to foster. Their growing community is organized around the project's website and a network of local groups.
- See also: Bobe, Jason