My genes are prettier than yours.

August 31, 2005 4:52 PM

Abstract art from DNA Scientific pretension meets artistic pretension and, um... beautiful things happen?
posted by ferociouskitty (18 comments total)

Couldn't this be called Extract Art as well?

Its an interesting idea and site but I couldn't really see myself giving them $400 for a big copy of my DNA in a frame.
posted by fenriq at 5:05 PM on August 31, 2005

Ugh. Narcissism as home decor.
posted by spacewaitress at 5:09 PM on August 31, 2005

I think I'll just buy a bunch of Rothkos and stack 'em. Same effect, but less valuable than my DNA.
posted by Decani at 5:11 PM on August 31, 2005

It's not even a copy of your DNA, really. From the initial image of the (interminably loading) flash movie, it's evident all they've done is blow up an image of a "gel," which is a temporary apparatus for separating different sizes of cut up DNA in solution. Thousands and thousands of these gels and similar images are created every day in research labs, and the resulting image is only indirectly related to your DNA's sequence.

And somehow, making a large image of your own DNA for sofa art seems incredibly narcissistic.
posted by reality at 5:12 PM on August 31, 2005

spacewaitress: whoa.
posted by reality at 5:12 PM on August 31, 2005

Interesting idea, but it's just a little too kitschy for me - and it reeks of "oooh, lookit me, I've got science hanging in my living room" when it's just a friggin' gel.

/I drew a happy face gel, once, with an outline surrounding the eys, nose, mouth, &c using different sized DNA fragments in different lanes
posted by PurplePorpoise at 5:37 PM on August 31, 2005

reality writes "...it's evident all they've done is blow up an image of a 'gel,' which is a temporary apparatus for separating different sizes of cut up DNA in solution. Thousands and thousands of these gels and similar images are created every day in research labs, and the resulting image is only indirectly related to your DNA's sequence."

It looks like it might be RFLP data: a so-called genetic "fingerprint". So it is, in some sense, a unique genetic identifier.

I object to the poster's characterization of this as "abstract". It's quite concrete, I think.
posted by mr_roboto at 5:41 PM on August 31, 2005

Now there's a conversation stopper.


What's that?



My DNA.



oh.
nice.


A photo of appartments at night would be more interesting. Close up and a tad blurry, you understand. He!, at Christmas, with those balcony lights a twinkling.
posted by alicesshoe at 5:43 PM on August 31, 2005

This is really bad.
posted by Eekacat at 5:52 PM on August 31, 2005

mr_roboto:
I object to the poster's characterization of this as "abstract".

I was way copying their copy.
posted by ferociouskitty at 6:40 PM on August 31, 2005

Heh; I missed that. I guess I just scanned right over that "highlighted" chunk of text. Their copy has some readability issues....
posted by mr_roboto at 7:09 PM on August 31, 2005

I could do this in my lab. Simply take the negative from a gel and bring it to Wolf or something. I'll do it for only $300 ;-)
posted by jmd82 at 7:14 PM on August 31, 2005

Isn't it just a Sanger sequence?
posted by sourwookie at 7:28 PM on August 31, 2005

Man, I was hoping for some double helix action. This isn't just pretentious, it's boring to look at it.

I wonder what the implications for this are in the world of crime-solving... "In light of that framed sample above your couch, we won't need your DNA."

(Yeah, I watch WAY too much Law & Order)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:00 PM on August 31, 2005

At last the "spittin' image" makes sense
posted by Cranberry at 9:03 PM on August 31, 2005

Convert an entire cell's DNA into one big string, listing the contents of chromosome #1, then #2, and so on down the list. There are, as I recall, 4 possibilities for each base, so every 12 bases would contain the color information for one pixel. Assemble into a bitmap image . THAT is how you make abstract art from DNA, and it'd probably be highly cool.

Picture of a gel? That's just lame.
posted by kafziel at 10:21 PM on August 31, 2005

Musicians have fared a litttle better, you can actually hear the varying degrees of hydrophobicity! I'm not sure I actually like the music, but at least they're not just playing the notes A, G, C, and some substitute for T. More from a google search.
posted by Eothele at 10:17 AM on September 1, 2005

Yeah, I'd seen this and didn't think much of it aesthetically speaking. Much cooler is having an autorad of DNA you've grown/extracted/stained yourself.
posted by peacay at 1:24 PM on September 1, 2005