This exhibition of artworks made by Dr Marianne Wilde was part of a strand of public engagement work, led by Dr Ken Taylor, as part of the Synthetic Portabolomics project. The pieces reflected Marianne’s engagement with synthetic biology; drawing on historical references as well as her experiences in the laboratories.
Synthetic biology is seen by some people as a revolution in the way biologists can manipulate life, while others see it as an evolution of the genetic science and biology from which it is derived. The exhibition asked questions of the visitors, exploring this dichotomy and the notion of how such work might be done in a framework of ‘Responsible Research and Innovation’.
The exhibition included a video made by the Newcastle-based company Roots and Wings.
Photo credit Colin Davison.
Drs Marianne Wilde, Ken Taylor and Simon Woods would like to thank the following people and organisations for making this exhibition possible:
The staff of the Great North Museum.
Dr Yulia Yuzenkova, Dr Richard Daniel, Dr Emanuela Torelli, Dr Ben Shirt Ediss and Dr Aurelie Guyet along with PhD students Grace Goldsmith and Giorgio Lai for their help and patience in the laboratories.
Newcastle University Faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) and Science, and Agriculture and Engineering (SAgE) for providing the funding to enable this programme of work and the exhibition.
The Synthetic Portabolomics project is led by Professor Natalio Krasnogor and funded by EPSRC grant EP/N031962/1.
