| dc.description.abstract | In order to solve complex sociotechnical challenges scientific research is moving to a more
democratized and socially distributed state. Synthetic biology is one of the fields in which one
such movements has started, called the Do-It-Yourself-Biology (DIYbio) community. Cheaper
equipment, communication technologies and automation of DNA sequencing and -synthesis
increasingly allow DIYbiologists to start experimenting in self-made labs. The DIYbio
community can be classified as a user community engaging in open, collaborative innovation
projects, but it is unclear what makes these projects successful. This research therefore first
investigates how and why the community members engage in DIYbio projects and then what
characteristics make projects successful. User innovation and user community literature is
used, along with literature on project success. Six characteristics are hypothesized to influence
DIYbio project success: regulation, technology and market as industry specific factors and
leadership, knowledge diversity and funding as project specific factors. To find out the
motivations of DIYbiologists, 9 interviews with community, project, startup and lab leaders
from over the world were conducted, transcribed, coded and analyzed. To find out what makes
DIYbio projects successful, a survey was conducted among the DIYbio community with a
response of 32. Ordinary Least Squares regression was performed in R to uncover possible
relationships between the six independent variables and project success, supported by
qualitative data of the interviews. Differences in how and why DIYbio is done are found
between the US, EU and countries in Africa, South-America and Asia and between
technology-oriented people and bio artists. The groups are connected through dissatisfaction
with their jobs, a degree of activism, the urge to seek like-minded people, experimenting in
their free time and an entrepreneurial mindset. A DIYbio project cycle from new to successful
projects in relation to regulation, technology and market is created and key activities to enable
DIYbio project success are defined based on interview data. In the regression analysis, the
variable knowledge diversity is proven to have a positive significant relationship with project
success. The different identified groups in the DIYbio community have different relationships
to the six project characteristics because of their different motivations and cultures. The six
project characteristics all have an influence on project success, but the exact relationships are
more complex than a positive linear relation. The results are reflected on and compared to
user community literature based on Open Source Software which unveils differences between
the two communities. | |
