2023-08-07T12:30:37-07:00 2022-12-31 990 2022-01-01 460738285 BALTIMORE UNDER GROUND SCIENCE SPACE Inc BALT 4434528498 101 North Haven Street Suite 105 Baltimore MD 21224 Thomas Burkett PhD president 4434528498 2023-07-31 1 1 11 1 AAL2 2022 2023-04-26 12:10:37Z Thomas J Burkett PhD 14 Howard Avenue Catonsville MD 21228 87236 0 X bugssonline.org X 2012 MD The mission of Baltimore Under Ground Science Space, Inc. (BUGSS) is to foster a community of citizen-scientists, who can explore biotechnology in a safe, constructive and socially-responsible manner. BUGSS is a community laboratory that promotes education and understanding of biotechnology, doing so by offering courses, informational talks, community projects, workshops, student science-fair assistance and an open laboratory, where individuals can conduct biotechnology experiments. At BUGSS, we believe that biotechnology and synthetic biology are the fabrication technologies of the future, and a key component of a sustainable economy in the mid-Atlantic region. BUGSS offers entrepreneurs access to low-cost laboratory space for early-stage, proof-of-concept and developmental experiments. 8 8 2 80 0 0 2967 43746 170338 12391 0 0 28801 31099 202106 87236 0 0 0 0 2584 2002 0 0 0 129972 123057 132556 125059 69550 -37823 101494 60346 8824 5499 92670 54847 See page 1, Part I, line 1. 0 0 23260 0 15866 Community and Individual Member Projects - Central to BUGSS' mission is the provision of lab space to individuals and groups within our community who wish to conduct experiments of their own design. Individuals pay membership fees to BUGSS, which arrangement enables them to access equipment and facilities at the BUGSS lab as well as a small number of disposable reagents. In this way, we dramatically reduce startup costs for those interested in pursuing high-risk, non-traditional, multi-disciplinary and early-stage projects. In 2022, BUGSS' most active community project was Open Insulin, an initiative to synthesize and produce insulin at community scale to compete with high-cost, insulin analogs produced by pharmaceutical companies. BUGSS members focused on optimizing the growth of host E. coli cells in a bioreactor, a device that regulates and optimizes cell growth. By increasing cell mass, we can dramatically increase the amount of insulin protein produced in those cells. Our team of ten members met one or more times per week to collaborate on this project. We also strengthened our connection with the national Open Insulin Foundation and a second research site, Counter Culture Labs, through monthly inter-lab meetings. In addition to our community projects, we had individual members who pursued projects at BUGSS. These included genetic engineering of plant species for which few genetic tools currently exist, creation of plant cellulose through genetic engineering, analysis of bacteria living in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and engineering of coral to resist bleaching and global warming. We also continued our support for early-stage entrepreneurs, with three companies being based at BUGSS and conducting research in our facility. Two participate in our Joint Membership program with Harbor Launch at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, thereby benefiting from the scientific resources at BUGSS and the business and legal resources provided to Harbor Launch Associates. 21306 0 16399 iGEM - In 2022, BUGSS once again mentored a team competing in the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM). Unlike in previous years, the team in 2022 was a joint venture between BUGSS and a community lab in New York City, Genspace, which together sponsored the East Coast BioCrew team. BUGSS provided mentoring for the team throughout the spring and summer. Students at the two sites met weekly via Zoom to design experiments, research the social and ethical implications of their project, interview experts, and produce poster and video presentations of their project. Participants local to BUGSS also attended the lab on Saturdays to conduct their research, this year focused on genetically engineered bacteria to degrade PCBs, a toxic, legacy chemical that contaminates much of our environment and which is particularly injurious to human health. Our team expanded this year to consist of 23 high school students and eleven mentors, who were professional scientists, post-baccalaureate and graduate students. As a culmination of their work, team members attended the 2022 iGEM Jamboree either virtually or by traveling to Paris (six students and one mentor), where they presented their work to the judge, met other teams and earned a silver medal for their accomplishments. 4269 0 21155 Youth Courses and School Programs - BUGSS also offers courses to groups of students (school programs) both in partnership with other local nonprofits and by direct recruitment of student populations such as homeschool students. In collaboration with scientists from Carnegie Institute of Washington and Project Bioeyes, we continued the development and delivery of a one-week Microbes In The Classroom course that we delivered to students at two Baltimore middle schools. We delivered six youth courses to the general public with an average of nine students per course. Three were part of our new Girls Coding Club, in which Johns Hopkins University students taught coding to middle-school girls. In addition, we developed new partnerships with STEMcx and Latino Educational Advancement Fund. For these two organizations, we delivered nine courses that served students from historically excluded groups. 52 0 2717 Adult Courses and Seminars - BUGSS teaches courses to members and the general public. Courses explore aspects of modern biotechnology, bioinformatics, genetics and molecular biology, and focus on teaching participants both concepts and laboratory techniques. Rebounding from the largely virtual courses during the coronavirus pandemic, we offered three multi-week courses called Molecular Biology Bootcamp: Building A Kill Switch In Bacteria, Responsible Bioengineering For Amateurs And Educators, and Build-a-Genome, and eight Lab Skills Nights, which are short courses that teach a particular technique. BUGSS also offered eleven seminars on topics including Computer-Aided Drug Design: Taking An Idea To The Clinic, Counting Shrimp With Sonar, Digital Equity In Baltimore, Microbes In Space, Unraveling The Mysteries of Long-COVID, Microbes At Work, The Story Beyond The Stool Sample, Sweet Talkers: Interaction Of Plants With Benign Microbes, In Sickness And In Health, Can We Clone That?, and Bacteriophage-Based Control Of Bacterial Pathogens. Collectively, our courses and seminars impacted 453 people in 2022. 52 0 2717 48887 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 8 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 MD X X Lisa Scheifele 4434528498 101 North Haven Street Suite 105 Baltimore MD 21224 Joel Tyson director 4.50 0 X 1200 0 0 Thomas J Burkett president 2 0 X X 0 0 0 Linda Saffer secretary 1 0 X X 0 0 0 Michael Johnson treasurer 1 0 X X 0 0 0 Lisa Scheifele executive director 15.5 0 X X 0 0 0 Anne Hamburger director 0.5 0 X 0 0 0 Nina Rajpurohit director 0.5 0 X 0 0 0 Jennifer Winters director 0.5 0 X 0 0 0 1200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 43746 0 43746 Youth Courses and School Programs 900099 21155 21155 0 0 iGEM 900099 16399 16399 0 0 Community and Individual Member Programs 900099 15866 15866 0 0 Adult Courses and Seminars 900099 2717 2717 0 0 less donations and grants reported on 1f 900099 -43746 -43746 0 0 0 0 0 0 12391 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 non-programmatic revenue 900099 31099 31099 0 0 0 0 0 0 31099 87236 43490 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1200 0 1200 0 0 0 0 0 660 0 660 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 142 0 142 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1023 0 1023 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 963 52 911 0 218 0 218 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37252 0 37252 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2114 0 2114 0 2165 0 2165 0 supplies 60843 38221 22622 0 registrations 10825 10325 500 0 utilities 3519 0 3519 0 internet 1839 0 1839 0 2296 289 2007 0 125059 48887 76172 0 75468 34873 0 0 0 0 1331 1033 0 0 0 0 0 0 197 197 1164 1053 28145 4955 23334 23190 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 101494 60346 3824 499 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5000 5000 0 0 0 0 0 8824 5499 X 92670 54847 0 0 92670 54847 101494 60346 -37823 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 X 0 1 0 X 118898 26825 51827 180282 43746 421578 24599 29801 9931 1831 43696 109858 0 0 0 17026 0 17026 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 143497 56626 61758 199139 87442 548462 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 548462 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5176 4503 50 2967 -206 12490 148673 61129 61808 202106 87236 560952 0.97773 0.9676 0 0 X Schedule A, Part III, Line 12 Adjustments: programmatic, Community and Individual Member Projects, ($478); non-programmatic, ($126). 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1970 25 1945 0 26175 4930 21245 0 0 0 0 23190 Thomas J Burkett president cash needs X 5000 5000 0 1 0 5000 Form 990, Header, Line D U. S. taxpayers, including not-for-profit entities, wishing to perpetuate their de minimis safe-harbor election from year to year, are required to append such election, annually and every tax year, to the rear of the return's filing, whether a tax return or an information return. Such attachment, however, is not feasible with electronic filing. In lieu thereof, such election is made here, having the same force as if appended. Section 1.263(A)-1(F) De Minimis Safe-Harbor Election: Taxpayer Name: Baltimore Under Ground Science Space, Inc.; Taxpayer Address: 101 North Haven Street, Suite 105, Baltimore, MD 21224; Taxpayer FEIN: 46-0738285. Taxpayer, for 2022, hereby makes the de minimis safe-harbor election under Regulation 1.263(A)-1(F). Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 4 In 2022, the corporation's bylaws were amended to remove a previously existing restriction on the number of terms a member may serve on the Board of Directors. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b Initially, a draft of the completed 2022 form 990 and supporting schedules is reviewed by the entity's officers and the finance committee. Thereafter, the draft is reviewed by all remaining member of the Board of Directors. All parties review the data, have an opportunity to offer refinements to narrative language as well as the overall presentation, and provide approval. Copies of the 2022 Form 990 package, as it is then to be filed with IRS, are provided to the full Board of Directors. The complete product, with supporting schedules, is then electronically submitted to IRS. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c Semi-annually, members of management and members of the Board of Directors are required to review and sign a conflict-of-interest form, which discloses any such issue. Forms are reviewed to ensure compliance and any areas of concern are thoroughly discussed and remedied at the time, and throughout the year. Board members having a conflict of interest are required to recuse themselves from voting on matters for which they have a conflict. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 In contemplation of any new hirings, management consults industry pay scales and similar nonprofits for as-needed guidance, documenting such information and decision-making in contemporaneous minutes of Board of Director meetings. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 The organization maintains copies of its governing documents, conflict-of-interest policy (and other policies) and financial statements, which are available for inspection, during regular business hours, at the organization's principal office. The organization complies with all requests, written or oral, for copies of these documents.