E. chromi: Living colour from bacteria
About this video
Daisy Ginsberg brings together food additives, terrorism and colourful faeces.
Daisy Ginsberg is a British artist and designer who works closely with emerging technologies and has a particular focus in synthetic Biology. Her work seeks to embed an aesthetic awareness into the design of synthetic life.
E. chromi sees her teaming up with a group of scientists from Cambridge to genetically modify E. coli so that it secretes coloured pigments. However, the bacteria aren't just for show and could have a wide range of real-world applications. The team's imagined timeline for how E. chromi might be used in the next century blurs the boundaries between science and design – ranging from the detection of arsenic in groundwater to the colouration of faeces as an indicator of disease.
Watch out in particular for Google's weather mapping (predicted here to be in place by 2069) which uses the bacteria to turn the sky red in the presence of heavy pollution.
Daisy Ginsberg is a British artist and designer who works closely with emerging technologies and has a particular focus in synthetic Biology. Her work seeks to embed an aesthetic awareness into the design of synthetic life.
E. chromi sees her teaming up with a group of scientists from Cambridge to genetically modify E. coli so that it secretes coloured pigments. However, the bacteria are not just for show and have a wide range of potential applications. The team’s proposed timeline for how E. chromi might be used in the next century blurs the boundaries between science and design – ranging from the detection of arsenic in groundwater to the colouration of faeces as an indicator for disease.
Watch out in particular for Google’s weather mapping (which should be in place by 2069) which uses the bacteria to turn the sky red in the presence of heavy pollution. LINK please.
License: Creative Commons
