Biojewellery started out by looking for couples who wanted to donate their bone cells. Their cells were seeded onto a bioactive scaffold. This material encouraged the cells to divide and grow rapidly, and the resulting tissue took on the form of the scaffold, which was a ring shape.

The couple’s cells were grown at Guy’s Hospital, and the final bone tissue was taken to a studio at the Royal College of Art to be made into a pair of rings. The bone was combined with traditional precious metals so that each has a ring made with the tissue of their partner.

Funding was awarded by the Engineering and Physical Science Council (EPSRC) as a part of their Partnership for Public Engagement initiative. The project lead to a live debate at the Dana Centre in January 2006, and an exhibition at Guy’s Hospital from Descember 2006. The exhibition included the rings, and extensive documentary photos of from the project.

Text and images from Biojewellery.

In his ongoing series Until the Kingdom Comes, begun in 2004 and first shown at the Yossi Milo Gallery in 2006, Simen Johan depicts a natural world hovering between reality, fantasy and nightmare. Merging traditional photographic techniques with digital methods, Johan’s images are crafted over time and may include a synthesis of landscapes from various geographical locations and animals photographed in captivity or in the wild.

An albino deer is camouflaged in a lattice of trees, shadow and light in one image; in another, a weeping willow is enshrined in an apocalyptic fog. Two of Johan’s recent sculptures incorporating feathers, insects and foliage into miniature ecosystems where also be included in his latest exhibition in the Yossi Milo Gallery.

In his work, Johan blurs the boundaries between the real and the unreal, re-imagining worlds that, much like our own, are forever a mystery. Majestic animals in fantasy landscapes are set in relief against a darker reality. The work addresses primal experiences, shaped by desires and fears–solitary paths towards imagined fulfillment.

Simen Johan’s work is included in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Brooklyn Museum of Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Cleveland Art Museum. He recently received a grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. In 2010-11, work from the series Until the Kingdom Comes will be presented in solo exhibitions at the Frist Center of Art in Nashville, TN and at the Pollock Gallery at SMU, Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, TX. His work has been featured in solo museum exhibitions at the Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo, Norway and the National Art Museum of Lithuania, and in group exhibitions at the George Eastman House, the International Center of Photography, the Australian Centre for Photography, the Neuberger Museum of Art and the University of Iowa Museum of Art. In 2003, Twin Palms published his monograph, Room to Play. Simen Johan was born in Kirkenes, Norway in 1973. He was raised in Sweden and has resided in New York City since 1992.

All images and tekst from Simen Johan.

How would you like to be remembered after death or how would you like to remember a loved one after they die?

With the burgeoning possibilities of biotechnology we have the opportunity to readdress our relationship with life and death.

Memento Mori In Vitro presents a vision of a new association with death whereby a daily ritual and form of remembrance of a past loved one is imagined. With reference to the Victorian tradition of locks of hair worn in pendants, the act of sustaining disembodied hair growth of the dead presents a new encounter with remembrance. The memory of the person is further heightened by the emotive qualities of hair; it’s smell, texture, length, colour and style.
Video clip: Stroke, feed, wash

Image from memento mori in vitro

Image from memento mori in vitro

Image from memento mori in vitro

All tekst and images from Michael Burton and RCA.

Biotechnology could have a massive effect on human social behavior; eating is something all of humanity shares. We decided that if victimless was accepted then it would no longer be acceptable to eat meat from farmed/natural animals.

We imagine a new world which has a deep need to recognise, reflect and celebrate its new way of life. The new world achieves this with a new national holday called ‘Eating’. During this day the new world celebrates and acknowleges the lives of the animals that lost their lives for humanity in the past.

When victimless meat becomes part of normality, socially acceptable to the point of being invisible, a change of such magnitude should not be forgotten.

A book from the future, to explain ramifications to kids

A page explaining the Grain Festival, where wild birds are fed by synchronised pyrotechnic ‘grain cannons’ to create a for communities

Wishbone Dinner

Al tekst and images from RCA and Henry Holland.

Another project from the design for debate program of the RCA.

Brief

Scientists are developing methods of growing meat in labs using animal cells. This area of research, called In vitro Cultured Meat Production raises all sorts of complex issues about the meaning of food, our relationship to animals (and nature).
The purpose of the project is to explore how design can be used as a medium to draw attention to the social, cultural and ethical implications of ‘cultured meat’. Your design proposals should pose questions rather than provide ansers, making complex issues tangible, and therefore debatable.

We are Private Clinic who offer competitive prices and services for your memmorable event.
Typical surgery process:

1. consultation for implant
2. payment
3. operation for taking cell from donor (your lover)
4. cultivate donor’s cell for few months
5. consultation
6. operation for client to implant grown donor’s body part
* It would take at least 3months for whole the process.

Sample1:
“I appreciate partner of different ethnic origine.

Sample2:
“My girlfriend has got the most beautiful breast I ever seen.
I grow and transplant her nipple on my berry so that I can
show off to my friends.”

Sample3:
“When I left my country, I wanted to keep something from
my mother as a charm. I choose to grow my mum’s hair
in my arm, so that I feel like living with her wherever I go.”

Al tekst and images from Michiko Nitta.

An engineering firm has developed a 3D bio-printer that could one day be used to create organs on demand for organ replacement surgery. The device is already capable of growing arteries and its creators say that arteries “printed” by the device could be used in heart bypass surgery in as little as five years. Meanwhile, more complex organs such as hearts, and teeth and bone should be possible within ten years.

The 3D bio-printer allows scientists to place cells of almost any type into a desired 3D pattern. It includes two print heads, one for placing human cells, and the other for placing a hydrogel, scaffold, or support matrix. The cells used by the device need to be the cells of what is being regenerated – building an artery requires arterial cells for example. Because the patient’s own cells are used the new organ will not be rejected by the body. The printer fits inside a standard biosafety cabinet for sterile use.

Its creators say that one of the most complex challenges in the development of the printer was being able to repeatedly position the capillary tip, attached to the print head, to within microns. This was essential to ensure that the cells are placed in exactly the right position. A computer controlled, laser-based calibration system was developed to achieve the required repeatability.

The 3D bio-printers include a software interface that allows engineers to build a model of the tissue construct before the printer commences the physical constructions of the organs cell-by-cell using the automated, laser-calibrated print heads.

The printer is the result of collaboration between Australian engineering firm Invetech, and Organovo, a regenerative medicine company based in San Diego, California. Organovo selected Invetech in May 2009 as its technology development partner and asked the company to design and develop a highly integrated, extremely reliable and simple to use 3D bio-printer system, which could then be transferred to manufacture and commercial sale.

Now, just eight months later, Invetech has delivered the first production model 3D bio-printer to Organovo. Invetech plan to ship a number of 3D bio-printers to Organovo during 2010 and 2011 and Organovo will be placing the printers globally with research institutions investigating human tissue repair and organ replacement.

Organovo CEO, Keith Murphy, says the bio-printer represents a breakthrough because they provide for the first time a flexible technology platform for organizations working on many different types of tissue construction and organ replacement.

“Researchers can place liver cells on a preformed scaffold, support kidney cells with a co-printed scaffold, or form adjacent layers of epithelial and stromal soft tissue that grow into a mature tooth. Ultimately the idea would be for surgeons to have tissue on demand for various uses, and the best way to do that is get a number of bio-printers into the hands of researchers and give them the ability to make three dimensional tissues on demand, “ said Murphy.

Tekst by Darren Quick on Gizmag.

In his ongoing series Until the Kingdom Comes, begun in 2004 and first shown at the Yossi Milo Gallery in 2006, Simen Johan depicts a natural world hovering between reality, fantasy and nightmare. Merging traditional photographic techniques with digital methods, Johan’s images are crafted over time and may include a synthesis of landscapes from various geographical locations and animals photographed in captivity or in the wild.

An albino deer is camouflaged in a lattice of trees, shadow and light in one image; in another, a weeping willow is enshrined in an apocalyptic fog. Two of Johan’s recent sculptures incorporating feathers, insects and foliage into miniature ecosystems where also be included in his latest exhibition in the Yossi Milo Gallery.

In his work, Johan blurs the boundaries between the real and the unreal, re-imagining worlds that, much like our own, are forever a mystery. Majestic animals in fantasy landscapes are set in relief against a darker reality. The work addresses primal experiences, shaped by desires and fears–solitary paths towards imagined fulfillment.

Simen Johan’s work is included in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Brooklyn Museum of Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Cleveland Art Museum. He recently received a grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. In 2010-11, work from the series Until the Kingdom Comes will be presented in solo exhibitions at the Frist Center of Art in Nashville, TN and at the Pollock Gallery at SMU, Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, TX. His work has been featured in solo museum exhibitions at the Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo, Norway and the National Art Museum of Lithuania, and in group exhibitions at the George Eastman House, the International Center of Photography, the Australian Centre for Photography, the Neuberger Museum of Art and the University of Iowa Museum of Art. In 2003, Twin Palms published his monograph, Room to Play. Simen Johan was born in Kirkenes, Norway in 1973. He was raised in Sweden and has resided in New York City since 1992.

All images and tekst from Simen Johan.

Review
“The writing of Koepsell is expertly critical and thoughtfully opinionated. The vast array of intellectually provocative questions raised directly, or indirectly, by the discerning commentary of Koepsell is a great strength of the book. The book’s edifying substance is highly relevant to universities and corporations, importantly including insurance, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The rich wealth of information mined by Koepsell’s intellectual toil likewise should be of greatly appealing interest to many professionals, including: geneticists, biologists, biomedical scientists, intellectual property scholars, patent public interest and healthcare lawyers, judges, legislators, bioethicists, genetic counselors, and health policy makers.” (Metapsychology, April 2010)

“Koepsell makes an extensive argument that gene patents should be recognized as a social justice and human liberty issue … .Who Owns You provides a real philosophical foundation to anyone interested in the debate.” (yalepatents.org, January 2010)

“Who Owns You? is the first long-form, comprehensive treatment of the implications of gene patenting. As such, it deserves much credit for bringing the debate into the public eye, though it’s no template for policy change in itself. Perhaps most important is its application of philosophical analysis to bio-policy, an underutilized approach critical to scientific advancement. Koepsell’s book serves as a worthy starting point for anyone interested in interconnecting genetics, property law, and philosophy.” (Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, December 2009)

Review
David Koepsell here raises a set of fascinating questions that all of us, and policy makers in particular, should ponder as science is slowly redefining what it means to human.”
—Lawrence Krauss, Arizona State University

“A lucid and compelling deconstruction of current practice in the patenting of human genes, exposing inherent contradictions in the process and offering practical ways to resolve them.”
—John Sulston, The University of Manchester, Nobel Prize Laureate

“Who Owns You? Is an authoritative, well-argued and clear discussion of a topical, serious problem. The author raises a number of tough philosophical, legal and political questions, starting with the possible infringement on the most basic of all rights, that of owning oneself. I know of no comparable work on the question of DNA property rights. Who Owns You? is bound to become obligatory reading on this thorniest of issues.”
—Mario Bunge, McGill University

“Via reflective consideration of secondary sources, attorney and philosopher Koepsell explores economic, ethical, legal, and scientific questions raised by the patenting of one-fifth of the human genome…. Koepsell’s emphasis on the demonstration of both an innovation and a commercial use ultimately may prove central to future jurisprudence in cases involving these patents. Koepsell’s timely book is highly recommended for all reading levels.”
—C. H. Blake, James Madison University

Buy it here.

Parma ham production in Italy

The fast, bold axe stroke performed by the butcher when he chops animals into pieces is probably the exact opposite to the movements required to grow meat in bio labs.

A meat grower carefully injects healthy Omega 3 fats from fish into the meat tissue culture

Today’s tools and procedures for turning dead animals into meat for consumption follow the properties of the animal (size, shape, weight and texture). These tools and procedures define the relationship we have with the animal and its meat.

If the material changes (cell cultures instead of animals), does this relationship change? Will it become more delicate? More distant? More artificial? More hygenic? How will craft, care and pride in ones profession express themselves for the in-vitro meat grower of the future?

Another interesting highlight of the Design for debate program from Design interactions at the RCA.

Find out more about the project here.

Lunchbox Laboratory is a collaboration between Futurefarmers + the Biological Sciences Team at the National Renewable Energy Lab. Currently scientists are using algae to produce hydrogen and have discovered that it is a viable renewable energy form, in thatalgae is everywhere and it could also be used to produce biodeisel. One of the main hurdles for the research is to find the most productive strains of algae. Since there are potentially millions of strains, this task is monumental. Lunchbox Laboratory is a prototype for a potentially distributed research tool that would be sent to schools such that young scientists could do primary screening of a collection of algae strains. This would serve as a preliminary screening such that non productive strains would be ruled out and only productive strains would reach labs. This project enables students to participate in big science as well as network with other students nationwide to compare notes.

Artists
Amy Franceschini
Jonathan Meuser
Dragisa Krsmanovic
Eric Ratcliffe
Michael Swaine
Noah Murphy-Reinhertz
Stijn Schiffeleers

Exhibition history
New York Museum of Modern Art, Design the Elastic Mind, 2008
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Return to Function, 2009

Tekst and images from future farmers.