Week 6 l Biotech and Art

As biotechnology continues to advance, more tools will become available to bioartists like Joe Davis to advance their field (Vesna).  This advancement mirrors the growth of a new, interdisciplinary field known as synthetic biology.  The goal of synthetic biologists is essentially to use the same tools that bioartists utilize in their creative work in order to build biological systems (“Who We Are”).

Where bioartists seek to use biotechnological tools to further their creative expression, synthetic biologists hope to use the same ideas in order to develop unique biological answers to some of today’s problems.  For example, recent work done by a team of German scientists has led to the development of a strain of Physcomitrella patens, a common plant used in lab experiments, with enzymatic activity that can clear contaminants in water (Morath et al.). 

An image of the system developed by Morath et al.

Another group has developed a system of controlled protein expression and delivery using E. coli, potentially for use in humans as a rapid medicine delivery system (Reeves et al.).  Unique uses of biotechnology such as these goes beyond the diagnostic work or the drugs developed by biotech companies. 

A diagram of the E. coli bacterium that synthetic biologists hope to influence for human benefit.

The Island, a film based on different uses of biotech.

The uses of biotechnology have captured the imaginations of the public for years, evident by films such as GATTACA or The Island (Clark).  However as these technologies continue to develop, some of the scenarios discussed in science fiction may come closer to reality.  Two aspects of our society that will certainly be affected by the advancement of biotech are the fields of bioart and synthetic biology.  Their development will mirror each other because of their mutual dependence on biotech and can only grow in their capabilities as our technology becomes more sophisticated.

Works Cited

Clark, Michael. "Genetic Themes in Fiction Films." The Human Genome. The Wellcome Trust, 27 Mar. 2006. Web. 10 May 2015.

<http://genome.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD023539.html>.

Morath, Truong, et al. "Design and Characterization of a Modular Membrane Protein Anchor to Functionalize the Moss Physcomitrella patens with Extracellular Catalytic and/or Binding Activities." Synthetic Biology 3.12 (2014): 990-994. ACS Synthetic Biology. ACS Publications. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/sb5000302>.

Reeves, Spears, et al. "Engineering Escherichia coli into a Protein Delivery System for Mammalian Cells." Synthetic Biology (2015). ACS Synthetic Biology. ACS Publications. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acssynbio.5b00002>.

Vesna, Victoria. "5 Bioart Pt1." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 10 May 2015.  <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=170&v=PaThVnA1kyg>

"Who We Are." Synthetic Biology. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://syntheticbiology.org/Who_we_are.html>.