Event 2: Anna Dumitriu - The Unnatural, That Too Is Natural

I attended the event titled "The Unnatural, that too is Natural: Artistic Explorations in Synthetic Biology" hosted by Anna Dumitriu. The first half of the event was focused primarily on her work and various pieces on or formerly on exhibit, while the second half was centered around the chicory flower and how she explores it in her art. 

She explored her background in synthetic biology, first, by discussing a piece wherein researchers were researching the possibility of developing living beings with more amino acids than the standard twenty; she represented a HIV antibody comprised of twenty-one amino acids by using clay-polymer beads and stringing them along in a protein sequence identical to the one engineered. This use of beads to represent the antibodies reminded me of the second week of lecture, when the presenter demonstrated the creation of contemporary geometric beadwork, as both the beading and the patterning of the beads could be construed as a practical application of beading. Another piece she introduced was a 3D-printed snowflake, called "The Birth of a Snowflake", algorithmically generated by the RNA code of the SARS-C0V-2 virus, in a larger collection about the transmission of infectious diseases. 


An RNA Snowflake
https://vimeo.com/545309728

Her next section, titled "Fermenting Futures", coincidentally related back to the first event that I attended, as her project is about black yeast mold, and mutant pink and orange black yeasts. This introduced me to an area of mycology that I had never heard about or even considered existing, which was the yeast and bacteria that grew at some point in history which could be interpreted anthropologically. This fascinated me enough to think about the broader practical applications of fungus and mold, outside of the usual fermentation and penicillin. Apparently, Aspergillus terreus is used to create itaconic acid, which is used to manufacture plastics and papers like latex (Kirimura). Penicillium roqueforti is widespread in nature and can be isolated from organic decay, and has found practical purposes in the production of blue cheeses such as Stilton, Gorgonzola, and the titular Roquefort (The Food Untold). Interestingly, different strains of the very same molds are used to produce antibiotics. (Abbas)

But the highlight of her lecture was in the section "Biotechnology From the Blue Flower", a biotechnological partly digital installation based on gene editing research in chicory plants. She prefaced it by discussing the history of the "blue flower" in the context of the German Romanticism movement, and led the discussion towards how now it represents the intersection between nature and technology. It pushes the bounds between what is a socially acceptable genetically modified organism, and whether our current understanding of "natural" foods is a definition that holds any meaning. Her research goes deeper into the morphology and history of the chicory plant and its uses, such as as a sweetener, and the applications of inulin extracted from chicory plants. She introduced Goethe's concept of the "original plant" and at the moment, is developing an augmented reality-based artwork to project the modified chicory flowers into the real world (Dumitriu). 


"Biotechnology From the Blue Flower" Augmented Reality App
https://annadumitriu.co.uk/portfolio/biotechnology-from-the-blue-flower/

This part of the presentation brought me back to the week six topic of Biotechnology and Art, since this is essentially what it is, and led me to reconsider the ethics of not just human biotechnology, but plant biotechnology. And the central question that she posed in her presentation, the blurring of the line between what is and isn't natural and what we perceive it to be, really resonated with me. It's true that what we distinguish as natural and what we distinguish as artificial is nothing more than a construct, since there is no reason to treat selective breeding and gene editing any differently from each other. Maybe some people take issue with the methods involved, but the end result both are working to is the same. Really, what she was demonstrating with the chicory flowers is at the heart of many of the modern concerns of genetically modified organisms; the result of gene editing wholly depends on the intentions of the scientist. Though some strive for a noble cause, other corporations and conglomerates such as Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer try to maintain a stranglehold over genetically modified crops to monopolize market share and maximize profit. 

Monsanto Logo
https://www.pngpix.com/download/monsanto-logo-png-transparent


But ultimately, I think that at some point in the future, when technology has sufficiently advanced and we've given the middle finger to Malthus many times over, there will be no distinguishing between the natural and the unnatural, organic and genetically modified (Malthus). I think people will have come to understand that it doesn't matter how the organisms have been modified. It's about what we can do with them that matters. 



Works Cited

Abbas, A., and A.D.W. Dobson. “Yeasts and Molds | Penicillium Roqueforti.” Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences, 7 Apr. 2011, pp. 772–775., doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-374407-4.00363-0.

Anna Dumitriu- The unnatural, that too is natural. Vimeo, uploaded by Art|Sci Center, 12 May 2021, https://vimeo.com/545309728.

Dumitriu, Anna. "'Biotechnology From the Blue Flower' Augmented Reality App Work in Progress." Anna Dumitriu, 22 Apr. 2021, https://annadumitriu.co.uk/portfolio/biotechnology-from-the-blue-flower/.

Dumitriu, Anna. “Biotechnology from the Blue Flower.” Anna Dumitriu, 22 Apr. 2021, annadumitriu.co.uk/portfolio/biotechnology-from-the-blue-flower/.

Kirimura, Kohtaro, and Isato Yoshioka. “Gluconic and Itaconic Acids.” Comprehensive Biotechnology, 14 Oct. 2019, pp. 166–171., doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-64046-8.00158-0.

Malthus, Thomas Robert. An Essay on the Principle of Population. J. Johnson, London, 1798.

“Monsanto Logo PNG Transparent.” PngPix, 4 July 2016, www.pngpix.com/download/monsanto-logo-png-transparent.

“The Mold Penicillium Roqueforti And Blue Cheese.” The Food Untold, 20 Jan. 2021, thefooduntold.com/blog/food-science/the-mold-penicillium-roqueforti-and-blue-cheese/.





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