Art, Genetics and Synthetic BiologyGCOE Program Seminar(Global Education Seminar)

Joe Davis is an eminent researcher and artist-in-residence an both the MIT Alexander Rich Lab as well at the Harvard Medical School's George Church Lab, he has more than 30 years experience in working with Art & Science.
Since the mid-80ies he has been working with DNA as the material of his works. He created 'Microvenus', he stored an image encoded as DNA in E. coli. images encoded in the DNA of E.coli He was also set to be first artist in space, his plan was to set of a 100MW electron gun in the earth magnetosphere to create an artificial aura. Unfortunately, after the Challenger disaster, NASA changed their plans and did not allow artists on board the space shuttles. Joe also invented Audio Microscopes, in which the reflections of microscopic organisms are turned electronically in audible signals, giving each organism their own unique audio signature. Since a couple of years, he has been concentrating on using synthetic biology in his art works: he has advanced plans to modify silkworms, so that they are able to spin gold and glass. One of his other long-term synthetic biology projects is to make a 'crystal radio' out of magnetic bacteria that he engineered to grow electrically conductive circuits.
He will also show excerpts from the newly released, award winning documentary film 'Heaven and Earth and Joe Davis'.