EXPERIMENTING IN THE OPEN
We support and share open source experimentation for sustainable protein.
SUSTAINABLE PROTEIN FOR ALL
We exist to drive forward the protein revolution with the open source community.
TAKE ACTION
Collaborate with us via our community forum, experimentation or funding.
BUILD AN ELECTROPIOREACTOR
Open designs, a build guide and a Pioreactor plugin for growing hydrogen-oxidising bacteria on hydrogen made right in the culture. In use at Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh.
STAY IN THE LOOP
Stay updated with our latest experiments and community news by subscribing to our YouTube channel.
What AMYBO is
Section titled “What AMYBO is”AMYBO is a not-for-profit, open source community with one aim: that anyone, anywhere, should be able to grow their own nutritious, delicious and affordable protein. Our bet is on hydrogen-oxidising bacteria (HOB for short). Give them hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and a few salts and they make protein. The three gases can all be made on a benchtop from water, electricity and a SodaStream cylinder, and the salts come in a jar.
A few companies are already scaling this up, behind patents. We want to do it in the open, at a scale a university lab, a school or a keen amateur can afford, and to publish every design, protocol and result as we go.
What we are doing now
Section titled “What we are doing now”Aseptic electroPioreactor 0.2
The second aseptic version. The first AEP 0.2 kits reached the University of Edinburgh in September 2026, with Imperial College London’s to follow, under the CARMA Hub project. We are writing the build guide one step at a time, with a video for each step.
Get-together, 13 November 2026
A free day at Imperial’s White City labs: tours of the electroPioreactors, talks, and the pub afterwards. Come in person or watch the talks online.
The electroPioreactor plugin
Runs the electrolysis and the CO₂ sparging from the Pioreactor’s own web page, and pauses both the electrolysis and the optical density readings while it sparges so bubbles don’t spoil the numbers.
On the forum
Section titled “On the forum”Most of our thinking happens in public at forum.amybo.org.
Latest on the forum
A few older threads to give you the flavour:
- Trial experiment on heterotrophic electrolysis: first runs of the Aseptic electroPioreactor at Edinburgh.
- Current measurement experiment: what the Pioreactor’s LED channel actually does when you hang a pair of electrodes off it.
- Evaluating platinised electrodes for electrolysis and alternative anode testing with graphite.
- HOB culture medium ingredients and the trace element solution.
- CO₂ sparger drawback: the backflow problem that led to the venting solenoid.
- PioFlo.org: enabling affordable bioreactors at scale.
We need your help
Section titled “We need your help”We need biotechnologists, chefs, coders, creatives, engineers, enthusiasts, environmentalists, makers, medics, microbiologists, nutritionists, others.
- Join the conversation on the forum. Questions are welcome, and so are results that didn’t work.
- Build something from our GitHub. Every design and every page of this site can be improved with a pull request; see how to contribute.
- Follow along on YouTube, or drop us a line. It’s good to know people are reading this.
Let’s democratise food
Section titled “Let’s democratise food”Header photo by Ozark Drones on Unsplash.
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