Craig Venter talks about creating synthetic life!

The Synthetic Kingdom is part of our new nature.

Image Credits daisyginsberg.com

Image Credits daisyginsberg.com

The Synthetic Kingdom: A Natural History of the Synthetic Future, 2009 by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg exhibited at the WHAT IF... Exhibition in the Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin in 2009.

How will we classify what's 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 and insert it into a biological chassis. Engineered life will compute, produce energy, clean up pollution, kill pathogens and even do the housework. Meanwhile, we'll have to add an extra branch to the Tree of Life. The Synthetic Kingdom is part of our new nature.

Biotech promises us control over the natural world, but living machines need controlling. Biology doesn't respect boundaries or patents. In simplifying life to its molecular interactions, might we accidentally degrade our sense of self? Are promises of sustainability and good health seductive enough to accept
such compromise?

Native Commodities, 2009 by Will Carey exhibited at the WHAT IF... Exhibition in the Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin in 2009.

As genome technologies promote the open sourcing of the human body, could such data participation one day be extended into other forms of biological manufacture? Synthetic biology and nanotechnologies have made it possible to reprogramme cells, but would we be prepared to consider using our bodies to do this? This project is a preliminary study into the tolerable limits of sharing, manufacturing and interacting with biological data from our bodies. The aesthetics of three spittoons for capturing bodily fluid have been explored.

Growth Assembly, 2009 by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and Sascha Pohflepp exhibited at the WHAT IF... Exhibition in the Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin in 2009.
Synthetic biology enables us to harness our natural environment for the production of things. Coded into the DNA of a plant, product parts grow within the supporting system of the plant's structure. When fully developed, they are stripped like a walnut from its shell or corn from its husk, ready for assembly.
Using biology for the production of consumer goods has reversed the idea of industrial standards, introducing diversity and softness into a realm that once was dominated by heavy manufacturing. The product on show in Science Gallery is the Herbicide Sprayer, an essential commodity to protect these delicate engineered horticultural machines from older nature.