BioCouture (blog) is a research project which uses microbial produced cellulose to produce clothing. Their ultimate goal is to grow a dress in a vat of liquid. Is genetically engineered clothing the future of the industry?
BioCouture is Growing Clothing
Juan Enriquez: Genomics, Energy, and Transhumanism
Juan Enriquez is a well respected futurist – who specifically looks at biotechnology and its role in the future. He is the founding director of the Life Sciences Project at Harvard Business School, CEO of Biotechnomy LCC, and the writer of numerous influential articles. Over the past decade he has given four TED talks, covering different visions of the future. After the break you can find each of his talks – including his latest talk from TED (posted yesterday): “Will our kids be a different species?”. These are definitely mandatory viewing for anyone interested in the future.
Of Steam and Genes
In the 80s a new science fiction literary genre emerged – cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is fiction which is high tech but low life, taking the classic dystopian themes of science fiction in a very grungy direction. This movement spawned a related social movement of those who enjoyed and engaged with the cultures so important in these works. But this article isn’t about cyberpunk, its about two different genres which came out of cyberpunk – biopunk and steampunk. These two genres are vastly different from each other – and yet there is something inescapably similar about them. Why do steam and genes go so well together?
The Rothamsted GM Wheat Story
The picture above comes from anti-GM protests in the UK in 1999. More than 10 years later there are still anti-GM protests, but it seems like the political landscape has changed. Over the past month a large controversial protest called “Take The Flour Back” has been making headlines with its goal of destroying an open-field experiment of aphid resistant BT-Wheat, developed by scientists at Rothamsted Research. What made this event special however is the way the scientists reacted to the threat of years worth of work being destroyed – and it may have been a turning point for these discussions.
Rayfish Footware: A Bioart Experiment?
Rayfish Footware is a brand new company, which claims to be able to sell genetically modified (biocustomised) stingray leather shoes to consumers. Their claims are fantastical and to some extent fairly ridiculous. While the company released a full press release last month which has been reported as fact by many news sources, this is very likely a hoax – having a number of tell tale signs.
Find out why it is a hoax and watch a video by the CEO of Rayfish Footware explaining his company after the break.
