Event 7 - Bio by Design

In this session, we will be exploring our living futures in a 'Bio by Design' session.

Our speakers Naomi Nakayama, Elise Cachat and Luis Guzmán Martinez will talk about designing with biology to shape living things for human purposes. Come listen to how “biodesign” evokes some of the newest design practices made possible by technological advancements in the life sciences from bioengineering to sustainable architecture.

Nayomi Nakayama

Is a Principle Investigator leading the Biological Form+Function Lab at the University of Edinburgh. Her group is interested in investigating the resilience of living architectures in plant structures such as the wood, shoot, and the dandelion fruit. By studying these structures, the group is interested in understanding how they respond to the environment and why. Lessons from these are actively applied to the group’s research for benefit of the society in three areas: synthetic biology, biomimetic engineering, and agriculture.

Luis Guzman

Luis Guzman is a Chilean artist who works in the intersection of arts and sciences.

The use of science and technology often relates to biopolitical or ecopolitical aspects of late capitalism. His explorations in bioarchitecture and synthetic biology reflect on the contemporary understanding of nature, bodies, and machines.

Elise Cachat

Is a lecturer in synthetic biology at the University of Edinburgh. Her research aims at engineering new synthetic gene circuits in mammalian cells: sensing modules, reporting modules and actuation modules (e.g. locomotion, apoptosis). Cells endowed with these new functions can be used to sense the presence of specific stimuli in their environment and report or act upon it.