Week 6 - Biotech and Art

          The subject of biotech and art is easily one of the more controversial subjects we have covered thus far. Biotechnology is a powerful tool. The video, Animal Biotechnology explains that in genetic engineering, it is a common practice to manipulate the genetic code of bacterial cultures to clone DNA and produce proteins that can fight diseases. 

Altering the genetic code is a common practice in biotechnology. Picture found here.

The food we eat is often genetically modified for various reasons and this is immensely powerful because as Wenk explains, food is a drug that affects the way your brain works.

Food alters the chemicals in the brain.   Picture found here.

            From food to medicine, biotechnology is being used on a massively commercial scale and there are a number of critics. On the other side, there are admirers to this technology that have learned the techniques of biotechnology and these artists seek to use technology to produce another genre of art. Symbiotica, an artistic research lab at the University of Western Australia looks at biology from an artistic point of view and has been used to execute contemporary art and science. Eduardo Kac created a bunny genetically altered to glow from the genes of jellyfish.

Picture found here.

  The creation of this bunny was to challenge the notions of genetic purity and to draw attention to the set of relationships between family, scientific procedure, interspecies communication, ethics, and art.  In many ways, the creation of this bunny challenges the ethics of biotechnology as well. Was there a greater good aside from creating a dialogue? How else does the GFP gene affect this living creature? Despite the controversy of this creation, connecting biotech and art is an important contribution to society. It gives society an opportunity to take a step back and question the drugs, food, and biotechnology practices of today. When is it ethical to use genetic manipulation? For me, as long as the public is given all the information it needs to make informed decisions about the ethics of biotechnology, biotechnology is a powerful and useful tool. Art and biotechnology opens up an infinite number of doors that can be beneficial to society.

Sources

1. Animal Biotechnology. 2008. Video. University of California TelevisionWeb. 9 Nov 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCIvAuwaf-o>.

2. Kac, Eduardo. "GFP Bunny." Telepresence, Biotelematics, and Transgenic Art . 2000: pp. 101-131. Print. <http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html

3. Schuler, Barry. Genomics 101. 2008. Video. TED TalksWeb. 10 Nov 2013. <http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/barry_schuler_genomics_101.html>.

4. "Symbiotica Biological Arts." n.d. n. page. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. <http://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au/research>.

5. Wenk, Gary. "This is Your Brain on Food." Seed. (2010): n. page. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/this_is_your_brain_on_food/>.