BIOART & THE BODY

BIOART & THE BODY
Svenja J. Kratz
svenjakratz@gmail.com
Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
Creative Industries Faculty
Queensland University of Technology

IMAGE THAT CAPUTURED OUR IMAGINATION: Vacanti’s Earmouse
Ear shaped biodegradable mesh in the
shape of a 3 year-old's ear, seeded with
cartilage cells from the knee of a cow and
implanted into the mouse.
Nude Mouse (random mutation from 60s that resulted in a hairless mouse with almost no immune
system) with implanted ear-shaped scaffold.
IMAGE CREDIT: http://www.probell.com/photo_exhibit_technology.html

Tissue Culture and Art Project,
Disembodied Cuisine

Sterlarc,
Ear on Arm
IMAGE CREDITS: http://stelarc.org/?catID=20214

Tobie, Kerridge and Nikki Stott,
BioJewellery Project
IMAGE CREDITS: http://www.biojewellery.com/

Tobie, Kerridge and Nikki Stott,
BioJewellery Project
Extracting the teeth from participants
IMAGE CREDITS: http://www.biojewellery.com/

HSE – Human Skin Equivalent Models
HSE - Multi-component 3D Human Skin Equivalent models developed by the TRR group
at IHBI as an alternative to animal models in wound healing research.
Epidermis
Dermis
De-epidermised Dermis - DED
Seeded with keratinocytes (type of skin cell)

HSE – Human Skin Experience/Human Skin Equivalent
Seed keratinocytes onto DED
Pluck human hairs
Preserve and incorporate HSE into
personal jewellery item
‘Harvest’ human skin and deepidermise
the dermis (DED)
Resulting in a human skin
equivalent (HSE)
Isolate and grow
keratinocytes
MTT staining to show cell
proliferation

HSE – Human Skin Experience/Human Skin Equivalent
keratinocytes
i3T3 feeder layer cells
MTT stained HSE

DNA Jewellery
DNA
• DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid
• Hereditary material in humans and most other organisms.
• Mostly located in the cell nucleus (nuclear DNA), but small amount
can also be found in the mitochondria (mitochondrial DNA).
• The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical
bases:
• adenine (A)
• guanine (G)
• cytosine (C)
• thymine (T).
• DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form
units called base pairs.
• Human DNA - about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of
those bases are the same in all people.
IMAGE CREDITS: http://www.raising-redheads.com/chromosomes.html/

DNA Jewellery
WORKSHOP:
BASIC DNA EXTRACTION:
BLEND & STRAIN – Separate cells
ADD DETERGENT – Break open cell walls to release the
DNA – i.e. spill it’s guts
ADD AN ENZYME – Cuts the protein away from the DNA
ADD ETHANOL – Causes DNA to precipitate (separate as a
solid from liquid)
IMAGE CREDITS: http://mccarterbiology.edublogs.org/labs/dna-extraction-lab/