here - Biomedical Computation Review

D I V E R S E D I S C I P L I N E S , O N E C O M M U N I T YREVIEWNonprofit Org.U.S. Postage PaidPermit No. 28Palo Alto, CABiomedical Computation ReviewStanford University318 Campus DriveClark Center Room S170Stanford, CA 94305-5444seeing scienceSeeingScienceBY KATHARINE MILLER, MANAGING EDITORArt ThatÕs A BLASTAgroup of artists and scientistshas created an interactive artworkusing BLAST (BasicLocal Alignment Search Tool), one ofthe foundational algorithms for comparativegenomics. Normally, the BLASTprocess of looking for homologous genesis invisible to researchers: They enter agene sequences into a computer andwait for BLAST to kick out the matches.But the collaborative art work opensthat black box by making the BLASTsearch visible. The result, EcceHomology was shown in early August atSIGGRAPH 2005 in Los Angeles.“It’s artwork that’s deeply grounded inscience without being didactic,” saysRuth West, director of visual analyticsand interactive technologies at theUniversity of California, San Diego,National Center for Microscopy andImaging Research and research associatewith the UCSD Center for Research inComputing and the Arts. She heads thecollaboration which includes 11 biologists,artists and computer scientists fromUCSD, UCLA and the University ofSouthern California.continued on page 25Visitors interacting with theEcce Homology installationat the Fowler Museum.