Week 6: Biotechnology and Art

I am a microbiology major here at UCLA, so this week was really interesting to me. The one artwork that I really enjoyed was the glowing rabbit, Alba. This was accomplished via genetic modification to a zygote, which then multiplied into a full rabbit. The gene used is called GFP, for green fluorescent protein, which was taken from a luminescent jellyfish (Tsuji, 2010). In research, GFP is one of the most ubiquitous genetic markers; we use it to easily identify cells all the time. As professor Vesna mentioned, this was first done in mammals in rats. Funnily enough, you can actually order glowing mice online, in both green and red. All of these mice are genetically identical, meaning they possess the exact same genes (JAX Mice Database). Most of this is because a given stem cell was altered, and the company simply harvests the same stem cells that are produced from this. In 2009, a South Korean lab did the same thing in a dog.

Aequorea victoria, the luminous jellyfish GFP comes from

Importantly, this experiment was not done as an art project. Rather, the scientists wanted to show that transgenic dogs were possible. Dogs provide difficult animals to work on, as there is considerable difficulty in obtaining fertilized eggs and embryonic stem cells (Hong et al, 2009). This is because dogs are more protected under laboratory animal laws, whereas mice and rats are more easily manipulated and euthanized (Laws and Regulations, Animal Use in Research).

Ruppy, the world's first transgenic dog

I feel that this shows how murky the lines between research and art can be. Much like how Joe Davis implanted his genetic element in E. coli, there is not a clear distinction between science and art. So how do we begin to understand the distinction between a science and art experiment? I like to think about the different classifications from Chris Kelty. The idea of outlaw biology is very attractive; we all like to imagine zany scientists working out of their garages. Kelty describes them as the "gadfly scientists, the kooks, the ones with the slightly nutty ideas," (Kelty, 2010). The example he gives is how to do things yourself: the DIY version of real science. I feel that this is probably the murkiest territory we can explore, because it sometimes feels like education or fun projects, not art. Yet, that might be exactly why such science is artistic.

DIY Biospheres, which are both beautiful to look at and educational

Works Cited


JAX Mice Database - 004353 C57BL/6-Tg(UBC-GFP)30Scha/J. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2015, from http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/004353.html

Kelty, CM. Outlaw, hackers, victorian amateurs: diagnosing public participation in the
life sciences today , Jcom 09 (01) (2010) C03

Hong SG, Kim MK, Jang G, et al. Generation of red fluorescent protein transgenic dogs. Genesis. 2009;47(5):314-22.

Laws and Regulations | Animal Use in Research. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2015, from http://www.neavs.org/research/laws

Tsuji FI. Early history, discovery, and expression of Aequorea green fluorescent protein, with a note on an unfinished experiment. Microsc Res Tech. 2010;73(8):785-96.

Images:
Glowing Jellies, <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbolAUdciY4f302bU0FQgIBtHTZ2z6ddL4qrzyC0GXX9q2ZvQG0rVMh6fM4E6X6DhyphenhyphenoTjJseAD082HtNJWPKgBIR5IuarXjVa5xJ2nsEpY5gbqNGoEUcDuecyU_tCyg-sYvlIZWIHgeCF6/s1600/jelyfish.jpeg>

DIY Bioshpere, <http://blog.2modern.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/biosphere1.jpg>

Glowing Puppies, <http://geekologie.com/2009/04/25/glow%20puppies.jpg>