We supply chemicals and supplies to nearly all DIYBio facilities (plug: http://store.p212121.com ). The number of facilities is definitely increasing and it will be interesting to follow as a long term trend.
Thanks, looks cheaper than Fisher for some things.
For the antibodies, do you have any validation data? Or, could you provide trial sizes priced under $50 (or free)? I think the $100 savings vs Abcam/Life Tech/CST etc. are negated by the lack of validation data and lack of brand recognition.
I suspect that the DIYBio will be a rising tide that lifts all boats. There are so many pieces of equipment that we use in lab frequently that are stupidly expensive; I'm fairly sure that a significant component there is both the lack of competition in the market (equipment pricing is almost always done on a "request a quote" basis) and the fact that many of these are produced in relatively small volumes, increasing the cost for sustainability and decreasing the overall reliability.
For a great example of DYIBio, the story of Russell Marker and his work in steroids is an entertaining read[1]
He basically bailed on his PhD which caused his advisor to say "you'll never be more than a urine analyst". He moved to Mexico and started running his own lab to extract a hormone precursor from Mexican yams. At the time, several steroids were selling for hundreds of dollars a gram. He was able to make them for a hundredth of that.
I can't find the original paper, but apparently his crowning achievement was when he published his seminal work and the address he provided was the Calinda Geneve hotel in Mexico City.
DIYBio usually isn't about discovering new stuff, but rather imitating "old" experiments, a lot like electronics enthusiasts will build more or less novel projects.
A better chance for real innovation out of the DIYBio segment is enabled by new DNA sequencing technology, like Oxford Nanopore MinION and PromethION. These devices are comparably cheap, require easy to modest laboratory work, and yield hackable data. Especially the MinION system is currently priced around 900 pounds for the starter kit and about the same for extra "consumables". Not generally available, as of yet, though.
An assembled genome might not get you published in nature, nowadays, but there's still lots of organisms left to sequence. Sometimes just for reference, sometimes these genomes can help in a conservatory effort.
Equipment is pretty trivial to design+build, and additionally there's a robust secondary market in lab equipment. And, for most stuff that isn't cutting-edge, the cost is in build quality. The recent reversal of the trend away from open hardware is nice. But, most "DIY bio" equipment has the feeling of scratching a geek itch more than anything else.
The important stuff, however, is the consumables-- enzymes, antibodies, chemicals and so forth.
A good market for cheap reagents or a few good suppliers of cheap reagents+optics would do more for DIY bio than all the kickstarted copycat hardware in the world (with the exception of fluid handling robots maybe)
The article is correct about the trend of people looking for inexpensive alternatives to common lab equipment (centrifuging using a hand drill: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-drill-centrifuge-174651/ ).
The big jump will happen as the quality becomes competitive with commercially available equipment.