ONCE & CAFA_China: Synbio and Art
As a team trying to bring technology to life, we understand the importance of public understanding to this process. We want our technology to be truly applied to the real world in a way that is appropriate for all parties involved. Therefore, we need to understand what the public thinks and we need the public to understand what we think.
Art is an excellent form of communication, which can be conveyed through all the senses and can be led to further discussions. Therefore, we are extremely looking forward to the role that art can play in public engagement in synthetic biology. However, we are also aware that the specialized skills required for art make it difficult for us to use it well.
Early in this year, we were very excited to know that the Central Academy of Fine Arts would be organizing an iGEM team and devoting the team to the creation and discussion of bioart. We contacted the team in no time. Fortunately, our collaboration did not end there. The two teams hit it off immediately, hoping to gain from each other what they lacked, and to promote bioart together in order to better promote the building of a better world through science and technology.
What is Synthetic Biology/Art?
The first problem we faced was that we knew little about each other's areas of expertise. Just as ONCE did not know enough about art, CAFA_China did not know enough about synthetic biology. Therefore, at the beginning of our communication, we mainly centered on explaining our respective areas of expertise. We introduced the basic theories of modern biology and the routine experimental procedures in the lab to CAFA. Based on our rich experience in the iGEM competition, we also gave them a lot of advice on how to prepare for the competition. This provided a good foundation for them to understand the iGEM competition and synthetic biology.
In return, CAFA also gave us a detailed introduction to the history of art, which allowed us to understand what the artists were focusing on, what their purpose was, and what kind of work they were able to present. This laid a deep foundation for our future collaborations, as it allowed us to start trying to think like an artist and thus better understand the artist's point of view and even participate in the creation of the artwork (in fact, some of CAFA_China's artwork this year was inspired by the discussions between the two teams, and the two teams collaborated on the creation of the artwork).
What Kind of Bioart Can We Do?
Based on mutual understanding, we still spent a lot of time discussing the best presentation of bioart.
Firstly, we considered what content should be presented. In considering this question, ONCE introduced CAFA to numerous synthetic biology concepts and techniques, including central laws, genetic circuits, metabolic engineering, directed evolution, biosafety, and a variety of other elements. In the process, the CAFA team members learned more about what synthetic biology looks like and were ultimately drawn to the concept of the suicide switch, deciding to use the bacterial suicide switch as the centerpiece of their artwork. In this process, what ONCE did was to sort out and introduce the content of synthetic biology, while CAFA finalized the content of the project.
Secondly, we had several rounds of discussion with CAFA on the form of their presentation. First, it was about how to implement it technically and how we could accomplish the bacterial behavior they envisioned. We helped them with several reviews of their genetic circuit design and provided suggestions for refinement in all aspects as well as assessments of the technical availability. Then it was how to ensure biosafety during the presentation of the work. The visual experience can give people a deeper experience, but it is very dangerous to directly place the genetically modified organism in the exhibition hall. After many discussions, we finally settled on the current display plan, which is based on the phenomenon and concept of synthetic biology, and reproduce and process it through installation art. This format can absolutely guarantee biosafety and has a more striking exhibition effect.
Interdisciplinarity Inspires Creativity as Two Teams Create Bioart Together
We were greatly inspired by the CAFA team members' ideas on installation art. The ONCE members also generated some inspiration during the in-depth communication with CAFA. The ONCE team members provided crucial suggestions on how to present the concept of the UV-induced bacterial suicide switch. ONCE was responsible for building the mathematical model that provided the data basis for the audience interaction part of the installation, while CAFA was responsible for the engineering of the interactive part of the installation.
This process was the most exciting of all. This summer, our two teams came together in Shanghai and had a very memorable time together. In the short time we had together, we discussed science and art, the past and the future, and imagined the changes that synthetic biology and art would bring to the world. We formed deep friendships and accomplished amazing things. This will be one of the most memorable memories of our iGEM careers.