Farma: A Home Bioreactor for Pharmaceutical Drugs

Will Patrick - MIT Media Lab graduate, former Google[x] researcher & Autodesk Artist in Resident Project - has created a bioreactor that could enable the production of pharmaceutical drugs at home. Farma is designed for a near future, where it grows, measures, filters and drys synthetically designed microbes.

Farma brews Arthrospira platensis, also known as Spirulina, that has been modified to produce pharmaceutical drugs. The reactor brews, measures, filters, and dries the Spirulina into a powder. The consumer then fills gel capsules using the accompanying pill maker and consumes the drugs. It should be able to grow other organisms, including algae, yeast and E coli.

Farma’s goal is to provoke discussions about the dos and don'ts of new emerging technologies: “I want people to understand what could be possible and help them imagine a possible future.”

[read more at FastCo][William Patrick] [picture by Will Patrick]