The Synthetic Kingdom: Designing Evolution

Redesigning the Tree of Life

alexandradaisy — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:42:40 +0000

I’ve been thinking about some new iterations of The Synthetic Kingdom, from all the feedback I’ve had on the project since last year.
I presented this work at the ‘Beyond the Tree of Life Meeting’, in London, 10 July 2009.

The Synthetic Kingdom, 2009

How will we classify what is natural or unnatural when life is built from scratch?

Synthetic Biology is turning to the living kingdoms for its materials library. No more petrochemicals: instead, pick a feature from an existing organism, locate its DNA code and insert it into a biological chassis. From DIY hacked bacteria to entirely artificial, corporate life-forms, engineered life will compute, produce energy, clean up pollution, make self-healing materials, kill pathogens and even do the housework.

The Tree of Life is always changing, ever since we first created it. Now, we are adding to the living kingdoms for the first time. But these synthetic organisms are no different to other life forms, except that we invented them.

We will have to insert an extra branch into the Tree of Life. The Synthetic Kingdom is part of our new nature.

Evolution of the Tree of Life

3. The Mini (Realistic) Synthetic Kingdom

: 4. Synthetic Kingdom as Weeds on Existing Branches

: 5. Fuzzy Tree Synthetic Kingdom

6. Synthetic Kingdom as Networked Spaghetti

7. Synthetic Kingdom as 3D Tabletop Matrix

What do you need to know to be a Synthetic Biologist?

alexandradaisy — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:33:04 +0000

Synthetic Biology promotes the abstraction of biological detail, the standardisation of biological parts and the decoupling of molecular science from the ‘design’ of biological machines: bacteria engineered to be useful for us. Much discussion is focusing on who synthetic biology will be for in the future – is engineering life the domain of engineers, biologists, computer scientists, private corporations, open source registries or amateur ‘garage’ biohackers?

I am designing a Synthetic Biology protocol for SymbioticA, the art and science collaborative laboratory at the University of Western Australia. Synthetic Biology has not yet reached Western Australia; so I am in effect also establishing a new area of biotechnology research at the university. Although I have been researching synthetic biology for more than eighteen months; I am a designer, not a scientist. I am interested in the social, cultural and ethical implications that surround synbio as well as the technology itself. Can learning and applying scientific knowledge and undertaking my own experimental research – rather than just reading papers and talking to scientists – provide fresh insight into the synbio debate?

What sort of skills do I need as I move from abstract knowledge to pouring agar and plating cultures, aseptic technique, design of biological systems and computer modeling? What knowledge and expertise will I need to personally acquire or access through experts? Can I learn enough in a supervised lab setting to work on my own scientific research? If so, how much must I learn before I can I start my research? Could it ever be useful ? I am putting the answers to these questions into a syllabus, a protocol for non-scientists to practice synthetic biology in the controlled environment of an institutional wet lab.

Day Nought

alexandradaisy — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 07:29:54 +0000

Eighteen months ago on the Design Interactions MA at the Royal College of Art, I began researching synthetic biology, an emerging area of biotechnology. I knew absolutely nothing about it before – I am an architect by training. And now tomorrow morning, I’m starting a three-month residency at SymbioticA, a unique science laboratory where artists and scientists collaborate, located in Perth at the University of Western Australia. It seems like we’re on the edge of the world here as the windows rattle with wind coming off the Indian Ocean: the focus of the lab seems at odds with the sleepy suburban Perth I have been exploring over the weekend.

On my way to Western Australia, I spent a week in San Francisco discussing my work with designers, scientists, science fiction bloggers… The conversations were fascinating and helped me to refocus on the questions underlying my research into synthetic biology. That is, how can we use design to open up new thought areas and unravel the complexity of subjects otherwise out of reach?

While biotechnology is functioning at all scales, scientists working in this field are working at the scale of the contents of a petri dish (and smaller). Design, however, works at the human and global scale. We’re trained to look at the bigger picture. So how can these two separate scales overlap? What role might design have in a biotech revolution? What insights can we offer? What might designers be doing in twenty, fifty, one hundred years time? What new directions might design move into? What skills might we need?

Through these questions, I’m looking at how designers can work differently, finding new ways to apply design research… just like my experiment to learn synthetic biology. Now it’s time for the scientific proof.