curious culture
“We are bags of microbes,
encouraged to share cultures ;)”
-overheard at EdibleMakerspace
About
Hacking the Future with Citizen Science, One Kitchen at a Time.
Edible Makerspace (EMS) is a Singapore-based, multidisciplinary collective operating at the intersection of food science, DIY biohacking, and open-source technology. We don’t just grow food; we tinker with it.
We view the kitchen as a laboratory and food as a medium for critical inquiry. By democratizing access to scientific tools and fostering a “maker” mindset, we empower communities to explore sustainability, circular economies, and resilient food futures within the unique climate of Southeast Asia.
Our Vision: Bioregional Resilience
Our work is rooted in Bioregionalism. While global industrial standards dictate how food is produced, we focus on how food behaves here—in the high-humidity, tropical context of the Malay Archipelago.
- For Singapore: We transform the “Garden City” into an Urban Laboratory, turning residents from passive consumers into active researchers contributing to national food security goals.
- For Southeast Asia: We bridge the gap between ancestral wisdom and emerging tech, sharing low-cost prototyping skills with regional cooperatives and grassroots communities.
- For the Planet: we advocate for Material Agency—the idea that our waste (coffee grounds, fruit peels, husks) is actually a library of high-value building blocks for a post-plastic world.
What We Do: Core Pillars
“We believe that if you can’t open it, you don’t own it. This applies to your food, your soil, and your technology.”
- DIY Bio-Hacking: Designing open-source hardware, like hacking rice cookers into fermentation incubators or building DIY laminar flow hoods.
- Circular Valorization: Converting urban waste streams into biodegradable materials (bioplastics) and artisanal food products.
- Microbial Exploration: Studying the unique microbiology of local wild yeasts and ferments to create a “Singaporean Terroir.”
- Open Science: Participating in global movements like GOSH to ensure food-tech remains accessible and transparent.
Active Projects & Experiments
| Project | Focus | The Goal |
| Kitchen Bioplastics | Coffee & Cassava waste | Creating home-compostable alternatives to single-use plastics. |
| “Its Sour Tho” | Wild Yeast & Sourdough | Mapping the microbial profile of Singapore’s urban environment. |
| The In-Ciders | Fruit Waste Fermentation | Turning surplus tropical fruits into craft ciders and vinegars. |
| Grow Fabrics | Biofabrication, Biotextiles | Growing native grasses for roots shaped into organic matrices for biopolymers and home grown fabrics. |
| KombuChaCha | Scoby Leather | Prototyping “vegan leather” textiles grown in tea-based solutions. |
Our Ecosystem
We don’t work in a vacuum. Our impact is amplified through a diverse network of local and global partners:
Global Networks: Active members of the Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH) and the FREAK Lab (Futuristic Research Cluster) across Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan.
Local Innovators: Collaborations with Native (Cocktail Bar) for waste valorization and Foodscape Collective for soil rehabilitation.
Research & Education: Working alongside the SMU Nature-Food Futures Learning Precinct and VIVITA Singapore to mentor the next generation of food hackers.
At the heart of the makerspace lies tinkering; making machines to explore a range of flavours, from studying materials in the environment, to deconstructing food sources.
We adopt an open source, DIY Bio hacker approach to food futures.
People
Darin is a molecular biologist, maker and human.He has trained in molecular biology, specifically in the field of epigenetics and bioinformatics. He is passionate about democratising biology through open science and the building of low-cost alternatives to traditional lab equipment. When not in the lab, he can be found working on all sorts of maker-related projects, ranging from pottery to welding to carpentry.
Michelle Lai is an urban farmer, forager, and spends her time tinkering with food experiments at Native, a cocktail bar in Singapore. She is also interested in exploring community – driven innovation and community engagement practices. She is also part of TANAH (Singapore), an interdisciplinary collective that playfully questions urban living via site specific interventions within and around the city.
Saad is a professional geek with a passion for coffee, technology, and the OpenSource way of doing things. For a living he conceptualizes tech solutions for Tusitala, the digital publishing arm of Potato Productions. He’s developing a platform to enable Asian storytellers to leverage the accessibility and reach of all things digital to get their stories published. Saad also volunteers with several non-profits and strongly believes that social enterprises should be the key users of and contributors to OpenSource tech.
Leyi is a banker by profession and explorer by passion, and is still in search of the key to satisfaction and happiness. She’s fascinated in the business models and designs surrounding sustainability, and believes there’s a role for each of us. She can often be found in a boat, seeking wind, waves and adorable wildlife.
Support
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