The Self and the Non-Self: Losing yourself through immortality and rejection Artist talk

Prof. Marta de Menezes is a Portuguese artist (b. Lisbon, 1975) with a degree in Fine Arts by the University in Lisbon, and a MSt in History of Art and Visual Culture by the University of Oxford. She has been exploring the interaction between Art and Biology, working in research laboratories demonstrating that new biological technologies, DNA, proteins and live organisms can be used as an art medium. Her work has been presented internationally in exhibitions, articles and lectures. She is since 2005 artistic director of Ectopia – Experimental Art Laboratory and from 2009 director of Cultivamos Cultura – Association.
 

This artist talk is supported by Dr. Mariana Gomes de Pinho & Moritz A Sorg at Mariana Gomes de Pinho Lab at the Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica in Lisbon, Portugal.

 

CRISPR refers to a range of novel gene editing systems which can be programmed to edit DNA at precise locations. It allows the permanent modification of the genes in cells of living organisms. CRISPR enables novel basic research and promises a wide range of possible applications from biomedicine and agriculture to environmental challenges. The previously unknown precision and simplicity of CRISPR and its possibilities has led to a wide diversity of reactions. While some welcome it as a gene editing revolution others urge for a worldwide moratorium, especially when it comes to human germline modifications. Particularly controversial is the CRISPR given possibility to intervene in the evolution of organisms.

 

Read more about Marta de Menezes at her website http://martademenezes.com/