It could be much cheaper. In the case of the antibiotic violacein, synthesis costs $300000/g (http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/v9389 http://www

It could be much cheaper. In the case of the antibiotic violacein, synthesis costs $300000/g (http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/v9389 http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/v9389) whereas Acetaminophen costs something like $0.42/g (http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sial/a7085 http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sial/a7085). The aim of the "Genomikon: Violacein Factory" kit (https://sciencehack.synbiota.com/ https://sciencehack.synbiota.com/) is to crowdsource the discovery of a strain of E. coli that produces this compound with the help of non-scientists and scientists alike.