Week 6 | BioTech + Art

    As a student who's taken a biotechnology course before, I found this week's lecture on biotechnological art to be fairly interesting, yet different. My previous course highlighted biotechnology as a discipline of science where advanced technological systems one a molecular level (Panofsky). This class, in contrast, then emphasizes the artistic aspect of it, as this is where artists and scientists work together in the lab to produce artwork from various scientific imaging tactics (Vesna). 

Extreme Close-Up of Dental Enamel, Patterns Taken Through Electron Microscopy

    Although it already feels like art is all around us within the biotechnological world, this week's lecture showed that there is a growing concern among the public with such integration. As technology advances, the growing concerns revolve around ethics: is it really necessary to perform such work on humans and animals (Adam)? Such concerns rose around as early as Symbiotica, one of the first organizations where artists and scientists work together in laboratories (The ... Australia). As mentioned in lecture, the lists of artwork was plenty, including modifying wings of butterflies, making various blood types "fight for dominance", placing rats in different auditory situations, recreating a third ear, and even modifying plant aesthetics (Vesna).

Green Fluorescent Rabbits (GFP Gene Transferred from Sea Jellies).

The aforementioned concerns are valid, and it is in the best interest as a community to place boundaries and regulations. Art is primarily ambiguous, while sciences are more direct. Hence, there must be clear communication within the two before consequences are placed. One primarily example that I remember to this day would be the case with Dr. Josiah Zayner, a guest speaker invited by my professors in biotechnology class, only to get into university trouble due to his "malpractices" in biohacking. This particular instance was also brought into global attention, claiming Zayner as one threatening humanity by self-injecting himself with treatments (Regalado). This specific case relates to the artistic aspect of class by emphasizing how modern usage of biotechnology leads to creations not founded in nature, things Dr. Zayner was doing until getting into trouble. 

Noninvasive art created from living bacteria on a petri dish.
 

Lastly, like aforementioned, bioart is everywhere, and as long as it's safe and relatively noninvasive, it should be encouraged as such doings bridges the gap between the two cultures.

Word Count: 344

Sources: 

[1]  Adam, Clément. Bioart, Ethics And Artworks | Masters of Media. 17 Apr. 2012, https://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/blog/2012/04/18/bioart-ethics-and-artworks/.

[2]  “Canvas KitTM - Create Living PaintingsTM.” Amino Labs, https://amino.bio/products/canvas-kit-paint-with-your-engineered-bacteria.

[3] Human-Enamel Close Up Through Electron Microscopy. https://www.treehugger.com/thmb/LcXj2SDKuZVdGuw0r7bMIAqYNtI=/650x/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/human-enamel-b40915e9a7a246258d4c7fa2c6a7f672.jpg.

[4] On Demand News. Glow in the Dark Rabbits Created by Scientists with Jellyfish DNA. 2013. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqQ-DSKObTI.

[5] Panofsky, Aaron. "Ownership, Advocacy, Testing: Me and We in Biotech". CLUSTER M71A. 17 October 2018. University of California Los Angeles. Lecture.

[6] Regalado, Antonio. “Celebrity Biohacker Josiah Zayner Is under Investigation for Practicing Medicine without a License.” MIT Technology Review, 19 May 2019, https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/05/15/239116/celebrity-biohacker-josiah-zayner-is-under-investigation-for-practicing-medicine-without-a/.

[7] The University of Western Australia. Research in Symbiotica. The University of Western Australia, https://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au/research.

[8] Vesna, Victoria. "Biotechnology and Art". DESMA9. 2 May 2022. University of California Los Angeles. Lecture.

Comments

  1. Danielle DixonMay 8, 2022 at 10:49 PM

    Hello, I really enjoyed your blog for this week. I agree that there should be boundaries and regulations on biotech art. People should not be able to use biotechnology for art if they are using it for aesthetics, and not for scientific reasons as well. If an artist wants to modify something, it should be in collaboration with a scientist that is actually studying and researching the topics that the artists want to portray in their art. Without consulting someone that is knowledgeable in the topic that an artist wants to portray in their art, I believe that the aftermath of the art piece will bring about worse consequences than if the artist did consult someone that is knowledgeable in the topic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JustineMay 8, 2022 at 11:29 PM

    Hi Michelle,
    Wow it's interesting learning about your experiences of previously taking a biotechnology course and then now learning about biotechnology + art. I'd imagine your perspective on this topic has changed in some ways since then! It's definitely interesting to think about how art influences biotechnology and vice versa. Furthermore, I think your thoughts concerning the ethics of utilizing biotech for art are certainly valid. It's a tough matter but I too believe that boundaries should be considered in areas of biotechnologies and aesthetics.

    ReplyDelete

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