Jelly
Jelly and the Bunnyfish
Cape Town, 20 April 2009 – by Bianca Gubalke
Yesterday’s post on “Jam or Jelly?” was cause for quite some discussion and merriment… and the article went straight to the top of Google capturing 8/10 entries on page 1 – here’s this morning’s screenshot with 1,61 million returns:
Communication per Jelly Post on Google Page 1
To improve the ‘stickiness’ of the article and adding to it the Greek Easter spirit and fragrance that were sent to us via the virtual highway just to make us hungry…, I felt like sketching a Bunny…
A Bunny for Laetitia to be exact – mother of all French Bunnies :)
Bianca Gubalke Spontaneous Sketches 5 - Jellybunny
The question was: what had a Rabbit to do with a Jelly?
Jellyfish Rabbit Alba
Well, if you are shaking your head right now you better be prepared for this… : remember I mentioned that green fluorescent protein (GFP) plus another bioluminescent protein, called aequorin, that cause the jellyfish’s bioluminescence?
That’s it… here exactly is the link (… sorry Gene, you’re just in all da genes) :
Transgenic bunny by Eduardo Kac
That’s today’s reality: Jellyfish DNA in a rabbit! They called it Science, they called it Art, they called it “Gene(sis)” at the Berkeley Art Museum.
Karen Macklin wrote in September 2003:
“… you’re thinking, “That can’t be natural.” Well, it isn’t. The artist, with the help of a scientist, injected jellyfish DNA into the embryo of an albino rabbit, and voilà — a bunny that fits in better at Burning Man than on a farm. Both a science and art experiment, Kac’s controversially transgenic bunnyfish is the perfect poster child for BAM’s current show, “Gene(sis).” Yet it’s just a drop in the petri dish.
“Gene(sis)” — subtitled “Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics” – is a multifaceted visual experience that investigates what the mapping of the human genome means to our world — emotionally, aesthetically, and scientifically. The exhibit includes more than 100 works by nationally recognized artists who take on unwieldy issues like…
- the ethics of genetic research,
- the questions of DNA ownership, and
- the implications of cloning.
While this important discussion is normally reserved for researchers toting jargon-riddled textbooks, it’s articulated here through tactile and visual media, making comprehension for the layperson not only possible, but also inviting.”
The Transgenic Bunnyfish!
While I don’t even want to think of the implications of a fluorescent bunny – or any other small animal for that matter being an easy prey already and having no other means of protection than to hide and to run real fast in case of danger – the fact that “this worked” is simply amazing! Whether we haven’t got more urgent matters to deal with on planet Earth is of course a totally different story… but not for today :)
I rather keep it ‘sketchwise’ – and to continue my journey through the Bunnylogy on Photoshop, I added some colour to create a ‘hotbun’ – not transgenic… just lavishly luminous and focused on the good things in life!
Bianca Gubalke Images - Bunnyfish
On a last note: having read Michael Crichton’s book on Genetic Engineering not too long ago, we can say we ‘evolved’ over the past 6 years since luminous Alba came to fame. The following excerpt dealing with the background of this “radiant rabbit” could be a chapter from his well researched, well written and thought-provoking book ‘Next”:
“Alba was created by Louis-Marie Houdebine, research director of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in France, using a process called zygote micro-injection.
In this process, the gene responsible for a fluorescent green glow was cut out of a jellyfish cell and injected into the fertilized rabbit egg cell that would eventually grow into Alba.
As the egg cell divided and replicated, the “green gene” replicated along with it, thereby making its way into every cell in Alba’s furry body.
The radiant rabbit now lives with Kac, his wife Ruth and daughter Miriam in their Chicago home.
Alba is the first specimen of what Kac calls transgenic art — “a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to transfer natural or synthetic genes to an organism, to create unique living beings.”
Fluorescence genes have been used in scientific research since 1995, when scientists at Stanford University began splicing such genes into the tumour cells of experimental animals.
The gene causes the tumour to emit a glow which increases as the tumour grows and decreases as the tumour shrinks, allowing researchers to study the effectiveness of drug treatments.”
Anyone wants to go first for ‘luminous lashes’? I am sure it’ll work and be a hit . . . !
Let’s Jelly!
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Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing.
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