The Thought Emporium: the videos Hacker News recommends
Not the channel's most viewed videos: the ones HN commenters kept linking with real commentary. The top pick, "I Genetically Engineered *MYSELF* to Fix Lactose Intolerance", hN keeps citing it as the standard example of accessible DIY gene engineering and self-experimentation, in threads on gene therapy, CRISPR and biohacking.
- 8 HN recommenders 7 months 2018–2026demoHN keeps citing it as the standard example of accessible DIY gene engineering and self-experimentation, in threads on gene therapy, CRISPR and biohacking.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2020–2026explainerPointed to as a striking example of DIY biology and self-experimentation with gene therapy.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2023–2026demoCited whenever biocomputing or neurons-on-chip come up, as an accessible example of how such a system can be built.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2020–2025demoHN cites it as an impressive garage-science example of neuron-computer interfaces and hard-science DIY biology.
- 3 HN recommenders 2 months 2018–2023tutorialHN commenters credit it for inspiring their own satellite-reception hobby and praise the channel's high-quality content.
- 2 HN recommenders 1 months 2020–2022demoHN commenters cite it as proof that cutting-edge biotech is becoming accessible to home labs, much like computing in the 1980s.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2021–2025explainerHN points to it as an example of a YouTuber getting radioactive scam products delisted by reporting them to the NRC.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2023–2026tutorialHN points to it as proof that DIY genetic engineering is feasible and as an example of a rigorous hands-on biology channel.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2023–2024demoBrought up in threads on synthetic food and flavor as a fun example of building a dish from chemicals.
- cited 10× 0 months 2020–2025explainerHN cites it as the debunking behind news stories about radioactive anti-5G pendants and wellness trinkets sold on Amazon.
Questions
Which The Thought Emporium video does Hacker News recommend most?
I Genetically Engineered *MYSELF* to Fix Lactose Intolerance: recommended in 7 different months by 8 HN users between 2018 and 2026.
Is this every The Thought Emporium video?
No. Only videos that at least three different HN users linked, in at least three different months, with at least a sentence of their own commentary. That filter is what makes the list useful.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.