What we’re about
Come help us build a new community lab for the East Bay, focused on citizen science. A place to explore, learn, work on fun projects, tinker with biology and other sciences. Open to biotech professionals, scientists, and citizen scientists of all stripes. Be part of our community of creative thinkers, hackers and mad scientists!
Help support YOUR lab by becoming a Founding Member! https://www.counterculturelabs.org/join
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Giving Tuesday for Counter Culture LabsCounter Culture Labs, at the Omni Commons, Oakland, CA
Counter Culture Labs is the original DIY Community Science Lab in Oakland bringing science to anyone with an interest. After 10 years, we are a fully functional microbiology laboratory and have plans to implement a deeper focus on outreach, community impact, and working with students, and with adults.
This fundraising effort is intended to help us transition to increased programs with youth! Your gift gets us set up to succeed with these objectives. Please celebrate with us and give generously.
This is a time to reflect and give back to those causes and organizations that help build a better future for all of us. In this era of uncertainty and scientific illiteracy, what better time to help support Counter Culture Labs, your community lab for biotechnology and citizen science.
Counter Culture Labs is a 100% volunteer-run educational nonprofit, run on a shoestring budget, so you know that your donation will make a significant impact. And now for the first time, your donation to CCL is tax deductible, we hold federal nonprofit status.$25 -$100 Citizen Science Activist
$100 - $250 Supporter of Citizen Science
$250- $500 Research Ranger
$500 -1000 Counter Culture Labs PatronlPrefer to contribute in a non-monetary way? We can use your expertise with some of the following:
- Launch a new program to serve youth members.
- Help improve our membership management software.
- Carpentry to install a door
- Teach a class on your favorite topic
- Become a member!
- Wet-Lab Plant Genetic Engineering Workshop 🧬 (Take-home Kit included!)Counter Culture Labs, at the Omni Commons, Oakland, CA$250.00
Welcome to the Plant Genetic Engineering Workshop! Join us at Counter Culture Labs (4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland, CA 94609) for a hands-on experience in plant genetic engineering. Learn about the mechanisms of DNA and genetic engineering, understand how agrobacterium is used as a vehicle for delivering genes into plants, gain wet-lab experience with sterile bacterial culture, and practice inserting a gene encoding for production of a red pigment into tobacco, all under 4 hours. Take home a plant genetic engineering kit (included in the cost of the workshop!)
​Kit Components:
- Nicotiana tabacum plant with pot and soil
- Agrobacterium with RUBY Plasmid
- Petri dish with LB agar
- 5 mL Infiltration buffer
- Tube holder
- Blunt syringes
- Pipettes
- Nitrile gloves
- Bleach
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The workshop fee is $250. Venmo @ccl-plantbio. Last four digits phone # confirmation: 6986. (Register more than 5 days in advance for a 10% early-bird discount: $225) Message the organizer on Meetup if you need an alternate payment method. This covers instruction, the materials and equipment used in the class, and the take-home genetic engineering kit.
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Required lab attire for safety: Long pants and closed-toed shoes.
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Unable to attend? Interested in other classes like plant genetic engineering, bacterial culture, microscopy? Join our mailing list to hear about upcoming workshops! https://forms.gle/VVRrDWbDf74tasvM7
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About the Instructor
This workshop is taught by Anthony Neil Tan, an AgTech professional [UC Berkeley bachelor of science in Bioengineering]. He is currently an independent research scientist and his projects center on optimizing the cultivation of high-value plants via various horticultural methods and plant genetic engineering. His portfolio ranges from designing a plant growth chamber that won a national NASA contest to developing new plant genetic engineering tools at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute.
