Presented by The Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) and the Pier Luigi Luisi Synthetic Biology Laboratory in association with the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
Meredith Walsh + Pier Luigi Luisi Synthetic Biology Laboratory (Rome, Italy)
The primary research undertaken at the Pier Luigi Luisi Lab is an investigation into the self-organisation and self-reproduction of chemical and biological systems within ‘origins of life’ and cell model frameworks; in particular, the Lab uses random DNA sequencing to modify protein structure and synthesise new proteins. UK-based artist, Meredith Walsh, wants to take this a full step further: rather than relying on random selection, she intends to modify proteins using aesthetic criteria to question the ways in which the design and modification of proteins can alter their architecture and expression and, more broadly, to address the ethical implications of designing new biological systems.
