General

Humans As Bacterial Cities

Metagenomics is a field of research which uses genomic data from a large number of organisms in an ecosystem to attempt to characterise the ecosystem holistically. This technique has only recently been possible with the advent of high throughput sequencing. Metagenomics is particularly good for investigating life which can’t be readily grown/cultured in a lab – which is a surprisingly large amount of the microbial world. One particular part of the microbial world, our own bodies, is being investigated in the Human Microbiome Project.

Read more

Posted on in Biology Leave a comment

Bacteriograph Velocirabbit

Zachary Copfer is a bioartist. He currently works primarily in the new medium of bacteriogaphy: photographs produced by glowing genetically modified bacteria (which replace light sensitive photo paper). This work is effectively a new medium for artistic endeavour, one which captures the spirit of the genetic revolution – replacing large numbers of conventional technologies with biological ones.

Read more

Posted on in Art & Design Leave a comment

Human Organ on a Chip

Donald E. Ingber and his team at the Harvard’s Wyss Institute have developed a chip which contains human cell cultures and aims to simulate (for the purposes of  scientific testing) human organs. Such a chip would be cheaper, more ethical, and more accurate than current animal testing used in drug development. By connecting chips of different organs together an effective “human body” of chips could be created. Check out a video on the work by Reuters after the break.

Read more

Posted on in Biotechnology Leave a comment

Framing the Synthetic Biology Ethics Debate

In an opinion piece posted on Monday, Claire Marris and Nikolas Rose (sociologists at King’s College, London) argue that the ethics debate over synthetic biology needs to “get real” and focus on the current applications of the technology. Check out the article here.

Commentators instead focus on potential reckless use or misuse, overestimate the pathogenic possibilities, and worry about deep questions such as: “Do we have the right to play God?”. These worries are the flip side of grand claims about synthetic biology’s imminent ability to solve challenges in health, environment and energy. Utopias and dystopias seem to be the only scenarios possible.

This way of framing discussions is unhelpful. It is an example of “speculative ethics” that distracts us from less exciting but more pressing questions. What are synthetic biologists actually doing? How easy, or difficult, is it proving? What applications are they realistically going to develop in the short to medium term? What is their intended purpose, and to what extent could these contribute to the public good?

Posted on in Opinions Leave a comment

Brains: The Mind As Matter (Art Exhibit)

The Wellcome Collection is an art venue which explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. It is located in London, and has recently been running an exhibition titled – “Brains : the mind as matter”.

‘Brains’ asks not what brains do to us, but what we have done to brains, focusing on the bodily presence of the organ rather than investigating the neuroscience of the mind.

Read more

Posted on in Art & Design 2 Comments