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Using homemade lab equipment and the wealth of scientific knowledge available online, hobbyists are trying to create new life forms through genetic engineering - a field long dominated by Ph.D.s toiling in laboratories. In her San Francisco dining room, for example, 31-year-old Meredith Patterson is trying to develop genetically altered yogurt bacteria that will glow green to signal the presence of melamine, the chemical that turned Chinese-made baby formula and pet food deadly. "People can really work on projects for the good of humanity while learning about something they want to learn about in the process," she said. So far, no major gene-splicing discoveries have come out anybody's kitchen or garage. But critics of the movement worry that these amateurs could one day unleash an environmental or medical disaster. Defenders say the future Bill Gates of biotech could be developing a cure for cancer in the garage.
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