Course Description

Humans have been tampering with species development for thousands of years, and creating countless varieties of domesticated plants and animals. Today, advances in biotechnology allow for the creation of entirely novel life forms such as transgenic rats glowing with jellyfish genes. In this course, students will be introduced to the emerging field of biological arts through hands-on laboratory practices and discussions. Through bi-weekly excursions to local biotech labs, parks, pet stores and seafood markets we will examine altered organisms. In the lab, students will create a postnaturalist journal, bacterial paintings, culture plant tissue, generate and disperse native seed bombs, learn proper techniques for preserving vertebrates and generate post-mortem chimerical sculptures from biological media. Discussions will range from bio-ethics/ecological thought to science fiction/biological reality, and more.