name

susan: Got any ideas?

jon: Just questions.

susan: That seems like a really good place to start.

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# cultivate fearless experimentalism.

<figcaption>learning objective #1 from the 2026-syllabus. </figcaption>

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## #1: can i pick up human-dna & living organisms as working material & just run with it; much like i can do with code or electricity?

---

<figure>
        <img id = "white" src = "https://www.dnainthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/science_mtdna-1.png">
        <figcaption>on mtdna, by dnainthenews.com.</figcaption>
      </figure>

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## genetic transfer is (largely) out of our control.

.grey[albeit epigenetics is a growing field, and makes me more conscious of my choices (because their impact may be passed down to my progeny). see <a href = "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-89818-z">mulligan, et. al.,  2025.</a>]

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## a piece of my maternal lineage dies with me.

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## #2: how may i preserve this inhertiance?

---

<figure>
        <img src = "/assets/media/260424_bioart-final/260424-01.webp">
        <figcaption>screenshot from "i wanna deliver a ...", by ai hasegewa; 2014.</figcaption>
      </figure>

---

<figure>
        <img src = "https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kathyhigh.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2006%2F06%2F09.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=47fed36b735c6c24871a7f88a0ebfef071f2e2ad247b46aa2b12e634c09fc591">
        <figcaption>from "embracing animal", by kathy high; 2004-06.</figcaption>
      </figure>

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## #3: what does it feel like to genetically 'pass' something on to someone?

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## “have no doubt, this technology will — someday, somewhere — be used to change the genome of our own species in ways that are heritable, forever altering the genetic composition of human kind.”
      <figcaption>from "a crack in creation", by jennifer a. doudna; 2017.</figcaption>

---
      
      class: middle

<figure>
        <img src = "https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.deepnewz.com%2Fimages%2Fcolossal-biosciences-brings-back-dire-wolf-after-10000-years-extinction-542d70a6%2F89517c43b14b62ded0d7459aacb9a0f553d938814d894f84bc73ac371049032c.jpeg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=e4ff118e779828bd257aae7913bc604b28216e38abe0847a030174277aca4f89">
        <figcaption>from the new york times; 2025.</figcaption>
      </figure>

---

<figure>
        <img src = "https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsculpturemagazine.art%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F04%2Fkac-10-2048x1124.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=043f9de45124b75ce4665497b767280d620d15c5ee5ffa1e648d2d3fd7bc2042
        ">
        <figcaption>from "genesis", by eduardo kac; 1999.</figcaption>
      </figure>

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## #4: how the heck does all of this dna-editing stuff even work?

---

## #1: can i pick up human-dna & living organisms as working material & just run with it; much like i can do with code or electricity?
      ## #2: how may i preserve this inhertiance?
      ## #3: what does it feel like to genetically 'pass' something on to someone?
      ## #4: how the heck does all of this dna-editing stuff even work?

---

<figure>
      <div class = "two">
        <img src="https://arjunmakesthings.github.io/itp-blog/z_images/IMG_7829.webp">
        <img src="https://arjunmakesthings.github.io/itp-blog/z_images/IMG_7823-2.webp">
      </div>
      <figcaption>pictures from ellen's lab; taken by ellen.</figcaption>
      </figure>

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<figure>
        <video preload="yes" muted playsinline autoplay nocontrols loop>
          <source
            src="https://arjunmakesthings.github.io/itp-blog/z_images/IMG_7752.mp4"
            type="video/mp4"
          />
          your browser does not support videos.
        </video>
        <figcaption>e. coli. bacteria with a red-fluorescent-dye under a filter; 40x; helped by tenny.</figcaption>
      </figure>

---

---

<figure>
        <img src = "https://arjunmakesthings.github.io/itp-blog/z_images/Screenshot-2026-04-10-at-13.53.57.webp">
        <figcaption>my mtdna sequence extracted in class; 2026.</figcaption>
      </figure>

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<figure>
        <img src = "https://arjunmakesthings.github.io/itp-blog/z_images/pet28a_diagram.webp">
        <figcaption>sample pet 28-a sequence. this is an example of an <a href = "https://arjunmakesthings.github.io/itp-blog/terms--and--concepts/expression-vector">expression-vector</a>.</figcaption>
      </figure>

---

<figure>
        <img src = "/assets/media/260424_bioart-final/260424-2.webp">
        <figcaption>work by danielle parsons.</figcaption>
      </figure>

---