do it together bio

A new week, a new episode of #OPENBIOTECH! In this one I’m showing you how to get in jail as a biohacker. Yep, that’s right.

 

Xandra van der Eijk had twee maanden geleden nog nooit met een microscoop gewerkt en noemt zichzelf inmiddels al een ‘biologie pro’. In een korte periode heeft zij een indrukwekkend project ontwikkeld: Genesis, waarin ze micro-organismen en hun pigmentveranderingen onderzoekt. Het is nu zelfs onderdeel van de tentoonstelling Fluid Matter.

 

Tuesday the 22nd of March and Thursday the 24th, a two-evening workshop about genetic modification was organised by artist in resident Špela Petrič, head of the Open Wetlab Pieter van Boheemen and the Waag’s safety officer Per Staugaard.

 

A smooth flight from Amsterdam (during which clear skies enabled me to gaze at the frozen Canadian tundra for hours) took Chloé Rutzerveld and I to sunny Austin. We came to Austin to present our Open Wetlab and its activities at the SXSW Trade Show. An Open Wetlab at the Trade Show seemed like a strange combination (as we have no conventional trade), but this provided all the more conversation with the passing audience.

 

Alice Vandeleur-Boorer and Tereza Valentova experimented in our Open Wetlab for three weeks. They were looking for a method to make cheese with their own bacteria.

 

How do biological entities and digital algorithms relate to each other? How could the study of such interaction be visualised? And what would be the applications and the implications which could derive from such study? Which disciplines could be affected?

 

This year's digital art forum Re-New in Copenhagen featured several exciting works of video, sound and interaction art. Although biotechnology is not often regarded as a medium, a number of biotechnological performances and installations effectively bridged this gap.

 

On Friday, the 2nd of August, we participated at OHM 2013 (Observe Hack Make 2013), with two different workshops. The challenge was not only to successfully present the workshops, but to intrigue participants from all around the world to observe, hack, make with us and interact with each other.

 

The challenge of the 6th Do It Together Bio meetup can be summarized in one simple question: Can molecular genetics and biology be done on a computer? Our way of finding out was be giving it a try. So on Friday May 24 dozens of gathered in the Theatrum Anatomicum, armed with laptops, ready to reprogram cells, assembly synthetic DNA, sketch metabolic pathways and simulate cellular behavior.

 

On Wednesday, April 27th it was time for the 5th edition of Do it Together Bio. The event was led by Laura Cinti and Howard Boland who are co-founders of the C-Lab collective and also winners of the latest Designers & Artists 4 Genomics Award. It was a diverse event that included theory, practice, experimentation and discussion around bio-art, synthetic biology, magnetic bacteria and genetic modification regulation and lab safety.

 

What does your urine say about you? More than a workshop that tries to do what science does better, Do It Together Bio is a series of workshops that stand for experiencing by making.