“That which I cannot build, I cannot understand”, Callie Clayton, BFA TX ’17

In my last blog post I proposed that the “involvement of art, interactive-critical thinking and processing seem[s] a key interpretive element for larger topics of access, understanding and analyzing the purpose and effect of genetic engineering experiments.

After two additional weeks of reflection, observation and visual protocol interpretation drafts, I don’t believe that the “involvement of art, interactive-critical thinking and processing just seems a key interpretive element-

I avidly believe it is.

Up until two weeks ago, high school students that are taking part in the Genspace iGEM team had been coming to the lab to do serial dilution tests (test the survivability of e.coli after different time increments of dehydration followed by resuspension and plating onto agar- essentially, rehydrating e.coli samples to see how well they grow after different amounts of time being dehydrated as a basis of comparison to be executed with tardigrades-testing this water dwelling, eight legged micro animal’s ability to survive under dehydration conditions due to certain genes. Identifying and isolating these genes for potential use in the production of vaccines- allowing vaccines to retain effectiveness in the presence of heat when traveling to high temperature countries lacking access to certain vaccines is an ultimate goal of this project). They have also been isolating tardigrades (essentially extracting them from the water and moss they live in) and considering utilization of the CRISPR technique with the tardigrades. Twice a week and beginning two weeks ago, everyday, the high school students come to work on this project during which I participate and observe. Participate to understand protocol processes, teaching methods + mediums for teaching, how students are learning and perhaps integrate another viewpoint- ex: commenting on changes in transparency of agar interacting with bacterial colony growth which results in light (when the petri dish is held up to be seen more clearly) highlighting certain “focal” points of this circular, 9 ” radial composition.

Common responses to these comments I make include but are not limited to: smiles of acknowledgement for the comment (I find these a bit funny and endearing), comments like “oh yeah! cool!” and “huhs” followed by what I have hoped to be looks of pondering, pondering alternate methods of viewing physical aspects of results/protocol steps.

I muse about ideas and reactions to my visual interpretations within the lab context of collecting quantitative data for a “what does this mean and how will it have subsequent effects in the minute steps that add up to addressing a broader exploration/topic” versus a “what is this now and how can it be understood outside its current context” mindset.

How can alternate forms of interpretation such as poetry, process and visual similarities with patterns in literature, bee flight paths, people’s tracked habits, etc. patterns allow one step in an experiment, one petri dish, be appreciated and understood outside of the exclusively quantitative? However, that being said, one could argue the opposite- that all patterns are only able to become recognized as patterns due to their calculable, repetitive nature which allows us to quantify the image, action, anything; thus patterns fundamentally are the summarization of quantification? and can identified repetition ever be completely fixed? A habit, predicted flight behavior of bees, predicted and actual growth rate (number of colonies predicted for growth) and cell behavior with the uptake of certain plasmids, etc. exist as predictable as a pattern due to quantification but within a statistical range. I’ve come to better understand and believe in the idea of maximum 99.99% accuracy. Results and protocols in the lab are treated meticulously and done in repetition in order to set up conditions for accuracy however innumerable factors such as the nature of the human hand confirming human error, changes in environmental factors and the constant changing responses of living organisms means that prediction maintains variability, quantification exists within a range of error thus meaning pattern (summarized quantification) must be expressed through a range in order to be represented/explored/interpreted “accurately.” How do we interpret range in this context? I think of it as integrated multiplicity of interpretations. Multiple translations outside of numbers and observational text capitalizing on the 0.01% bias. So let me rephrase: How can considerations of quantification (pattern) be expanded to regularly necessitate interpretations besides numbers and observational text? In order to be “regular and intelligible form or sequence” as described by one definition in Oxford Dictionary, a pattern must undergo multiple forms of translation to be understood. Translation, interpretation and the infinite concept of languages, my friends.

–

During breaks in setting up experiments- waiting for new agar plates to cool and set, solutions to dehydrate, etc. I’ve asked a number of high school students about how they understand and interpret content taught in the lab- tardigrade anatomy, CRISPR basics, 3A Assembly protocols, etc and what “type” of learners they perceive themselves to be. One student noted the importance of color in cognitively differentiating content within written and drawn information. “Writing becomes a blob of lines and color that mixes together” in an undefined way in that student’s opinion. Intentional color and alternating use of visual and written content she agreed may help her better interpret what is being taught. Upon my suggestion of “icon” visuals to piece together protocols with, in conversation with a small group of students, one student acknowledged that while icons could potentially simplify protocol building and interpretation, icons = another language such as hieroglyphics which adds an additional step of time and translation. Additionally, protocols are different lab to lab (similar to cooking- similar or same end result, minute differences in protocol peppered throughout) – meaning standardization is difficult. Work initiated and being done by the Synthetic Biology Open Language, a project and initiative funded by the NSF, federal agencies and other sponsors, started a readable visual simplification of genetic parts, devices and systems. While the symbols facilitate interpretation of certain genetic parts well, they don’t address the next step of ‘protocol’ and piecing a protocol together. (below from http://sbolstandard.org/visual/)

I had a great talk with one of the cofounders of the lab around the evolution of interpretation and languages in synthetic biology. Essentially it’s all about the development of “languages” he said (as I have come to understand myself as well). In order to expand rate and quantity of not only synthetic biology lab work, but also any lab or “hand-crafted” work as he said, languages for facilitating this work must be expanded upon. With hand manipulation of a majority of elements in an experiment comes human error, problematic experiments, confusion on what went wrong and decreased rate of results. In order to increase accuracy and efficiency, attempts through standardization have resulted in the recent development of many programmed operating languages developing to be read and carried out by a computer. The day when a protocol can be electronically sent from one computer to another to then be carried out by that computer seems to be approaching. This development of automation points to potential increases in productivity, thus allowing not only for expansion of biotech companies and more engagement in the DIYBio realm due to decreased necessary time investment, but at a fundamental scale- this allows people to spend more time ideating, conceptualizing than carrying out repetitive protocol steps in the lab. I find these developments of programmed languages for synthetic biology exciting however potentially limiting? Will understanding of actions being carried out from a protocol by the computer and the meaning / effect of those actions be hindered by the ease of technology’s commanding role? And how does this type of development affect the public without extensive understanding of science least synthetic biology, their process of learning in the DIYBio, Synthetic Biology communities? Could these communities become perhaps commercialized in unwise ways because the language containing the knowledge about what’s happening to those cells is encrypted in a code that makes executing protocols concerningly easy (touch of a button). With generally ok national public engagement / understanding in the sciences, does this engage or disengage people? I feel the simultaneous development of visual languages is imperative to address educational aspects of the Synthetic Biology community- facilitating understanding while efficiency is increased.

While at Genspace, I’ve come to recognize difficulties it and other community bio-labs face as nonprofits- similar to familiar challenges for all nonprofits. A wonderful yet potentially difficult aspect of a space in which everyone interested in taking a class and becoming involved in the community is welcome, is that unsurprisingly multitudes of collaborations, projects and ideas come out of this space each year. However, as is such with “personal projects,”and funding challenges at times, the completion and documentation of ideas/projects sometimes lacks. A really exciting project started by Genspace’s 2014 iGEM team is Open Lab Blueprint, a site for aiding the creation of community bio-labs, including a proposal for a lab protocol platform. While started, it was never completed due momentum slowing after the competition deadline. I’m excited to be talking with a designer next week about the platform called “Bioglyphics” and plans for its future development.

This week’s title “That which I cannot build, I cannot understand” was heard in the lab and is a take off of Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman’s quote: “What I cannot create, I cannot understand.”More insight on this quote to come in the next post.

Plans for upcoming week:

Continue protocol drawings and equipment use standards to make a booklet for beginners in community biolab classes such as the beginner biotech class at Genspace.

Write interpretations of lab protocols- free verse poetry.

Consider questions, prompts, topics to be considered as alternate methods of interpretation and integrate them in booklet.

Obstacles and Opportunities in the Creative Journey -Chris Cohoon ’16, TLAD

Change is the only constant in the life of service members and their families.  Major moves (often transcontinental) occur anywhere from yearly intervals up to four years.  The span between moves is often interrupted by multiple deployments which range from training missions, to humanitarian aid, to combat.  A friend of mine, who is a former pilot in the Air Force, averaged  310 days worth of deployments in the calendar year – and that was during peace time.  From the transient environment, come sarcastic colloquialisms, such as: “Home is where the military sends me,” or “Home is where I store my stuff.”  One learns to not ask a military kid, “Where are you from?” unless one wishes for a look of confusion and/or disdain.  A former student of mine had moved 14 times before her 13th birthday.

Amidst the flurry of brainstorming

The military is known for being regimented.  When I ask marines what they do at work, training nearly always comes up in their answer.  The Marine Corps ensures that each of its members knows their job backwards and forwards.  It makes sense that, in the chaos of battle – or even in the transient lifestyle – one needs to know their job by rote.  The means to this end is simplification and efficiency – even at the expense of the simplest, most efficient solution.  Job descriptions and policies are often written by what seems to be a good solution at the time.  The training criteria is then disseminated and leaves little room for questioning or interpretation.  Another oft uttered colloquialism is that “if the military wanted your opinion, it would have issued you one.” So, while one’s job differs greatly from location to location, and times change quickly, the slow grind of the bureaucratic structure and the unflinching culture of tradition, duty, and authority severely limit the potential for more efficient solutions.

One of the reasons that I chose to work with marines for this project is because of the general lack of creativity within Marine Corps culture.  In the last two weeks of classes, this point was  highlighted as we learned about brainstorming and ideation.  The creative dichotomy between the high school class and the marine class is palpable.  It has taken much longer for the marines to warm up to creative ideation, even though they are only one or two years older than the high school students.  I feel that the heart of the matter is one of permission.  In many ways, the straight forward direction and rote training of the military makes sense.  In certain situations, repetition and muscle memory will save your life.  It is difficult for young marines to feel the freedom to think outside of this context, even when not at work.  It has even been a challenge for my marine participants to call me “Chris,” rather than “sir.”  We are getting there, slowly.

Hydroelectric generators, coolers/seats, hoods to keep your feet dry, sonar, PET bottle construction material, so many creative ideas!!

The fluctuation of personnel constantly transitioning in and out still has its effects on policy, despite the attempts at standardization.  On my way out here, my supervisor had secured a building on the Marine Corps base for a classroom studio space.  By the time I flew out, the commander who had approved the space transitioned out, and his replacement decided that there were other priorities that demanded the use of that site.  My supervisor quickly worked to find a workshop off base.  Being off base makes it more difficult for young marines to make it to class, as they are not allowed to drive.  At the same time, however, this turn of events created a greater opportunity to recruit local Okinawans to participate in the design project with us.  What better way to learn about empathy than by working with people from other cultures?  Unfortunately, the language barrier has proven greater than my hopes, so far.  Translators are difficult to come by, as are English speaking Okinawans.  With four weeks left, I’m still hopeful that those connections will happen.

My Maharam Fellowship experience in Okinawa is challenging, as I face systemic and cultural barriers.  But a good challenge provides good opportunities to design solutions to meet those challenges.  The shape and tempo of classes change (sometimes weekly) to meet the needs of participants.  And with each class, we have had great moments of synapses connecting and lightbulbs turning on over our heads.  In one such moment, one of the marine participants returned to class after a research/survey assignment.  The assignment was to survey as broad of a population as he could, in order to gather information about potential “customers” in the base population.  It was clear that his samples all came from his peers.  When I probed as to why he didn’t survey others around him, he informed me that the other people around him are sergeants, and he doesn’t like sergeants.  The conversation turned back to the data he collected.  It was apparent that his peer group is unable to purchase a paddle board from our mock-business at a price that is sustainable.  The logical follow-on question was to ask who, then, is a better customer target?  He concluded that sergeants earn a considerably higher salary and would likely be a good target.  He quickly realized why it might be beneficial to empathize with sergeants though he might not sympathize with them.

One of the young marines joined with the high school class to help shape prototypes.  

The conversation then took a turn toward the importance of empathy in leadership.  The marine admitted that he didn’t like sergeants because they doll out extra work and discipline arbitrarily.  Sergeants, in his mind, don’t deal fairly with subordinates because they don’t know them.  So, perhaps, a lack of empathy leads to poor leadership.  Pressing on, we discussed that in may also be that the views of the subordinate marines are also skewed because they don’t understand the experiences of their superiors.  The eureka moment, however, hit when he realized that, if all goes well with his career, in a couple of years, he will be one of those sergeants.  This thought had never been within his grasp in his short tenure.  Together, we concluded that empathy is a very important part of leadership, and a dose of humility to recognize that we aren’t superior to other peoples is a great first step to being a good leader.

The past couple of weeks have been perplexing, and even frustrating, at times.  The Marine Corps culture and the circumstances here on Okinawa don’t make promoting creativity any easier.  In the midst of it all, however, there are still great moments with the marines and the high school students that I feel utterly privileged to be able to work with.

Students working to bring their ideas into the tangible world

Searching for Meaning in Their Faces: More Interviews, the Inpatient Unit, and a Little Green Notebook | Yuko Okabe, BFA Illustration 2017

Meeting New People and Interviewing Like a RISD Student

“It’s very important to get down to their level, and ask them if they know about the center and what it’s about.  Sometimes, parents don’t fully explain why kids are brought to places like ours.” -Dan Cheron, Ph.D, Judge Bakers Children’s Center

Since my last post, I was able to interview many more patients and clinicians. I have contacted 9 therapists and prescribers (clinician who assigns medication) on the outpatient floor so when and if appropriate I can interview any of their patients for a few minutes.  So far, I have interviewed 28 patients and with more to come with ages ranging from 6-20. Jason and I spoke how though the game would be primarily directed towards 6-12 year olds, getting insight from older teen patients would be vital. In a way, I think that teenagers would have a better understanding of what they need over what they want out of therapy, particularly if they have been going through it since childhood.  Having spoken with a few, they talk very much like veterans and they have so much dignity and awareness of their situations.  They’re honesty and sincerity has been great to see and the energy and curiosity of the younger children has been amazing to experience.

For a little bit, I would use a notebook and pen to write notes.  But then I realized, “Hey,  I’m not a therapist and I’m from RISD so what am I doing?”  It didn’t feel natural.  So instead I started using drawing/note taking on a large sheet of paper so that kids can see what I’m writing.  This proved to be so much more effective, especially kids with low focus or low verbal skills, this stimulated our conversations to a great level each time.  They sometimes draw with me, too!

Got really into this one.  We had to extend to a couple more sheets.

Just to share some clinical insight form these past couple of weeks, I spoke with the Assistant Director of the Center for Effective Child Therapy from the Judge Baker’s Children’s Center, a center dedicated to improving children’s lives by empowering their emotional, intellectual, and developmental well-being. The Assistant Director, Dan Cheron, Ph.D and I had a conversation about his methods and practices as well as his thoughts about our biofeedback game.  He related how he always introduces himself to a new child first before the parent.  “It’s very important to get down to their level, and ask them if they know about the center and what it’s about.  Sometimes, parents don’t fully explain why kids are brought to places like ours.”  I appreciated the thoughtful considerations he has towards communicating with children, especially what he said about keeping conversations on a first name basis, so kids can call him “Dan” instead of Dr. Cheron.

“It keeps our conversations more casual,” he explained.

He also shared how he would keep language developmentally appropriate, a method which ended up coming in handy during my patient interviews, particularly if someone is very young or has certain cognitive disabilities.

We treat kids like human beings, not their diagnostic. -Miranda Day, Creative Arts Program, Boston Children’s Hospital

“Younger children understand emotions better than terms.” he said.  “So instead of saying, ‘oh, so your parents brought you here because your anxiety got worse,’ you would say ‘what makes you feel sad?’ or ‘do you feel scared and mad sometimes?'”

But on that note, the older kids seem to appreciate my interviews more when I don’t beat around the bush and I flat out say that this is a “therapy” game we’re making, particularly for kids who need to learn how to stay calm and focused.  I have to asses each situation separately and be careful about language and wording each time.

Going back to Dr. Cheron, for the encouraged that we should include a tool box of skills that a child can refer at crucial times.  He also said that, as much as possible, we should make opportunities for children to feel like an expert.  He said this would increase parent/guardian/caregiver engagement and the experience would become more collaborative.  To an extent, this gives children a sense of control and agency of their experience.

On that note, I also spoke with the Director of the Children’s Hospital’s Creative Arts Program, Miranda Day who also believed that children should be given as much control and customization in the game as possible.  A quote that stuck out to me during our interview was, “We treat kids like human beings, not their diagnostic.”

Miranda’s job is essentially to lead and organize music therapists, artists in residence, and a multi-media studio in the hospital called Seacrest Studios (created in partnership with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation).  Music therapists are fully trained staff in a clinical setting who use either singing and/or instrumentation to help children heal.  Artists in Restidence are not fully trained in therapy but instead come from either educational and/or professional backgrounds in fine arts or design practices.  They share their creative skill-set to children through writing, illustration, printmaking, digital media, etc. and in turn, patients can experience these creative projects and even continue to apply them when they leave the hospital.

Visiting the Inpatient Unit

Before our conversation ended, Miranda said that she could connect me to the Inpatient Psychiatry Unit in the Hospital since Jason and I only had luck interviewing from the Outpatient Clinic.  To expand our audience, Miranda said that reaching out to her or her other colleagues about the inpatient unit would be a great asset to our research.

“They’re a very creative bunch over there.”  She related how much the patients valued having the arts program visit them since it keeps them stimulated and excited about their projects.

This past week, I went to inpatient twice with the expressive arts therapist group.  I have to say the reason this experience was very meaningful but moreso relieving, and it may have been relieving for reasons different from what other people would feel.  For personal reasons, I’d like to save some exposition until after the internship ends because I can better collect my thoughts and I’d like to reflect on the experience as a whole in that way.  But what I can share right now is that having the opportunity to visit the inpatient unit was initially both very exciting (because seeing new patients is always exciting) but also very worrisome.  In  a way, I knew what I was going to see but I also had no clue what I would actually experience, especially emotionally.

If you can ignore the ambiguity of that description for now, I’ll sum up my experience at the present as, yes, “relieving.”  And I say this because a lot of my preconceptions were wonderfully proven false.  I expected to see lifeless, bare walls and ceilings but I saw colorful paintings and carpeted floors.  I expected to see barred windows but they were large and hopeful with sunlight streaming through.  I expected the space to feel like a cold tight space, like a prison, but there was a communal kitchen, a beautiful art room with a stereo and a Shrinky Dink, handwritten nameplates for patients’ rooms, and a decent amount of space to walk around.  And the best part of all was seeing the patients.

I wouldn’t generalize anything, especially with gender.  It’s easy to put a strong male character, but we should show that anyone can be strong.  Also show real-life problems.  -Girl from Inpatient

Of course, not all the patients wanted to speak with me, but the ones I got to speak with were really great. Some were reluctant at first, like this one 11 year old boy, but the open-note taking/doodling method had them open up to me a lot more.  I wasn’t trying to jip them of anything:  I really wanted to hear their thoughts and really find meaning in their words and faces.

The patients there, as well as the patients in the outpatient clinic, highly believed that customization, having multiple characters are vital components to engage children. For the friend/coach character, they should be somewhat androgynous, if not explicitly, as well as be expressive and fun while also calm and “coach-like” when timely.  When I asked one teenage girl in inpatient, What is something that this quote-unquote therapy game should definitely do or definitely not do, she said, “I would not generalize anything, especially with gender.  It’s easy to put a strong male character, but we should show that anyone can be strong.  Also show real-life problems.”

With just a few weeks left (ack!) to interview patients and create design/illustrations based off this research, I’m in early stages to develop a character.  I’m seeing the current iterations as plans rather than drawings, thinking through what elements of each kids respond to the most and then continuing to reiterate as frequently as possible.  I’m thinking through the subtleties, such as body language and how the character introduces themselves.

“Coach” character thoughts.  Expressive, outgoing, but can still be serious and calm, especially when sharing coping skills.  Can be a little older though.  Also thinking through having two characters (a coach and a friend) to see them interact with each other.

Concept sketch for outer game world-journey, creative places to explore.

Concept Sketch for outer game world

Thinking about the Audience:  The Little Green Notebook

What is it?  Is it going to taste bad?  -“Mikey” reacting to new medication

Before signing off on this post, I wanted to reflect on this project on the perspective of the audience that Neuromotion is addressing.  Of course, this game will initially target younger kids, particularly ones with emotional regulation issues often associated with anxiety and ADHD, but the audience we need to also reach are the parents of these struggling children.

I’ve been making my own sort of assumptions about how these parents must feel having gone through so many therapeutic and medication options to help their child, and I could only imagine how tired these people must be.  But one of the clinicians who I approached about interviewing their patients thought that before I interviewed someone, I should sit-in on their prescriber meeting.  I mentioned this aside in the beginning of this long post, but basically unlike therapists, prescribers help decide what medication would suit a client, in this case, a little boy.

We were all in one office:  the prescriber, the two parents, the child, me, and I think another clinician or intern who sat in the corner.  I first met the parents and their child (let’s call him Mikey) in the hallway with the prescriber, and we both explained what my project was about and how I’d really like to interview their son. They were a really nice couple and Mikey was a little shy, but I liked them a lot.  There were just a normal family.  But then when we were all in the office, the prescriber began to discuss more official business about the son’s prescription amount, how many milligrams they increased and if they need to add more milligrams or try out a new medication.  The Zoloft wasn’t working, the mother shared with a deep sigh, saying that his son had repeated outbursts and was taken out of school twice.  The prescriber then proceeded to make other suggestions and look back at Mikey’s medication history on his computer.  All the while, Mikey was sitting in between his parents, fidgety and anxious.  He only focused when he pulled out his 3DS and played, seemingly blocking out what his parents and the prescriber were discussing over his baseball-capped head.

At one point though, when the prescriber suggested  a new medication to the mother, Mikey, without looking up from his game, demanded, “What’s that? What’s that?”  He repeated it over and over.  After a little bit, he looked up to his father and asked, “What’s that?  Is it going to taste bad?”  His father shook his head and tried to calm him down, but Mikey then turned to his mother:  “Is it going to taste bad? Is is going to taste bad, mom?”  Intently listening to the prescriber, the mother didn’t respond so Mikey dropped his face to his game, defeated.

I was overwhelmed, but I did my best to sit there and contemplate whether I should nod  sometimes or just mostly look at the prescriber.  A few times, I’d make eye contact with the mother, seeing her worried even desperate exhaustion.  I found myself nodding reassuringly, but I have no idea why.  I wasn’t qualified to reassure anything, but I didn’t know what to do.

I’ve never heard so many medication names within a span of 15 minutes. Aside from Mikey questioning the new medication, what affected me the most was a little green notebook that the mother wrote in during the meeting.  As the prescriber listed different medications and their milligrams, she wrote down all his words.

I kept looking at that notebook, and I had several thoughts then and after.  I wonder if she bought that notebook specifically to write down Mikey’s medications.  I wonder how she feels pulling the notebook out of her purse each time at these meetings or when she’s picking up medication at a local CVS.  I wonder if she hates that notebook, that she’s imaging the day that she doesn’t have to take it out of her purse anymore.

Afterwards, Mikey and I were able to go to the waiting area and I think it was a relief to both of us that we could just talk about games and characters.

“He [character] should be a hero!” Mikey flashed a large grin and he drew a Luke Skywalker outfit on one of my doodles. “Can he have powers?  He should defeat a bad guy, like how Luke defeats Darth Vader.”

What I gleamed from Mikey’s interview as well as from all the other interviews so far is that these children, these teens, these people want to have a sense of choice and strength.  This want freedom to explore, to discover, to have fun especially considering their situations where they very little choice in deciding their therapist, their prescriber, their medication.  They want to see themselves in the game, they want to be Luke Skywalker or Batman or Superman or a fairy or a princess in a pink dress…and they want to defeat the forces that scare them the most.

There’s a lot of promises I feel like I’m making with this game.  Some higher forces might come into play unfortunately, like budget, time, budget, staffing, budget… a start-up can only accomplish so much. But at least for now, I’d like to put that away from me.  I’m not about thinking about financial practicalities because that’s only going to hinder any progress.  And it’s not fair to the kids if I just write off everything they shared with me so far.  So my goal is to get as much done as possible and to record everything I find.  The ultimate goal is to increase patient motivation and see what these kids want as well as what they need from this game, and I have to say I think I have a very strong idea of what that should be.

Until next time~

Cheers,

Yuko

to Navigate “Contributing” : making & research flows – Callie Clayton / BFA TX ’17

Patience.

Plainly, what is research? and what does it look like for a visual learner, thinker?

Observation, writing, sketches, proposals

and patience.

What is the most effective and needed method, interpretation, translation I can provide in a community bio-lab? Thinking, sketching, proposing, and the key element; starting over has occupied a majority of my time these past few weeks.

The message and purpose of Genspace and most community bio-labs is to teach lab techniques and concepts surrounding the creation and evolution of the biotech movement to the public. In a past survey, a majority of Genspace class attendees would prefer taking a hands on class versus exclusively lecture + discussion. “Hands-on” or kinesthetic learning represents the body acting out motions, eye-hand coordination and not only physically, but also visually understanding processes.

And so, recordings or translations of these physical motions (pipetting, vortexing, etc) in visual 2D forms seems imperative to connect

1. written lab procedure with the

2. physical execution and finally

3. effect of the protocol (purpose and “expected” results of the experiment/protocol)

While participating in a beginner biotech class, my notes have consisted of understanding the details associated with teaching processes such as DNA Isolation and PCR (polymerase chain reaction- process of amplifying extracted DNA to create many copies of a specific sequence of DNA in order to look at the nucleotides/amount in the DNA sequence) and transformation (occurs naturally when e.coli bacteria bond with other e.coli to transfer plasmids through hair-like protein tubes called pili) this process allows for the alteration of a cell through the transfer of genetic information by a plasmid artificially and in the case of this class- we made an e.coli culture that expressed red fluorescent protein meaning it glowed red and ampicillin resistance. Focus of observations to work with have included:

• What are the teaching methods?
• How do class attendees absorb this information?
• What are the key details to include in effective visuals outlining a lab protocol?

(Such as touching the pipette tip to the side of the tube when pipetting out a very small amount of liquid, such as 1 microliter, due to the surface tension of the liquid preventing it from easily exiting the pipette tip)

• What metaphors seem to expound and explain processes?
• What questions are class attendees asking?

An iGEM project completed in 2014 by students attending the University of Paris-Saclay revolved around the representation of objects- questions of reality brought up by Rene Magritte’s painting, “The Treachery of Images.” This painting displays a painted pipe and the words, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” under the pipe which translates as “this is not a pipe.” The project consisted of genetically modifying e.coli to produce the

“fragrance of a lemon and simulate the ripening process of a lemon by changing its color gradually from green to yellow. A mixture of bacteria and solid growth medium will be moulded in a lemon shape: it will smell like a lemon, ripe like a lemon and look like a lemon, but “ceci n’est pas un citron” – this is not a lemon… or is it?” http://2014.igem.org/Team:Paris_Saclay

This example project utilizing genetic engineering was brought up and briefly discussed in one of the classes. The response from class attendees was engagement of curiosity in a scaled out form. While it seems a majority of questions during classes revolve around specific techniques, ethics of all different types of GMO’s, CRISPR and press, this involvement of art, philosophical questioning seemed a key interpretive element for these larger topics considering genetic engineering.

Can art facilitate removed, wide- perspective processing of technology and ethics?

Is science able to quantify art is some form?

Suggestions for classes I’ve been thinking about and proposed include:

• Including more examples of the effect of genetic engineering techniques such as transformation through plasmids by talking about art/design related genetic engineering work in order to facilitate better understanding of the effect and possibilities of what class attendees are learning on a basic scale. Art perhaps serves as a neutral ground between the realms of research and product.
• Including teaching tools that physically represent the idea of biology as building blocks. Utilizing more hands-on tools to fill in steps of kinesthetic learning; content that is:        1. orally presented 2. written 3. drawn out 4. absorbed through visual diagrams (a key aspect I’m working on) 5. enacted with hands-on “building blocks” 6. procedure executed in lab and then repeated in opposite order to ensure understanding of the role of all reagents and organisms.
• A “Question” page on the Genspace website and social media pages that stores questions to be answered on community nights such as the PCR + Pizza night. Questions could revolve around misconceptions of synthetic biology in the media, genetic modification processes, etc. After questions are answered on those community nights, icons on the “Question” page when clicked could expand with a thorough answer. This suggestion came out of the observation that people come to the lab however what do these class attendees leave with besides a series of written processes, protocols and written results in terms of learning take-aways? How can people continue to be involved with Genspace after leaving the space? and how can questions be more efficiently addressed and engage people outside of the direct lab space in a way that would encourage them to come to Genspace?
• Workshop in relation to “Interpretation and Translation”:
  Artists/Designers/Public interpreting simple lab procedures such as DNA extraction to be featured with open source written protocols on sites such as “Open Lab Blueprint.” http://2014.igem.org/Team:Genspace/Project/Open-Lab-Blueprint The course of the workshop could be slower paced and more question based in order to facilitate sketching or additional note taking for interpretative making. Essentially, this workshop could facilitate an amassing of visual and written open source lab protocol content in a variety of interpretations in order to accommodate varying learning styles.
• Workshop revolving around creative writing and designing or interpreting lab protocols and procedures, perhaps “Storytelling of Lab Protocols through Poetry; how lab procedures and experiment results manifest in a literary form.” Evelyn Reilly, an ecopoet writes free verse poetry revolving around material and chemical compositions of man made materials such as Styrofoam in a form reminiscent of lab procedures. Poetry and lab protocols could be compared / contrasted and then merged in a literary form.

As I have continued to observe progress and lab protocols/ methods used by the Genspace iGEM Competition group, introductory biotech classes each week and interact with new-comers to Genspace during a “PCR + Pizza” community night and Kombucha and Ginger Bugs Fermentation Workshop (exciting research on the health benefits of fermentation for a range of health conditions, one of which is autismhttp://www.contrabandferments.com/– check out “Missing Microbes” by Martin Blaser http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/health/missing-microbes-how-antibiotics-can-do-harm.html and a crowd-sourced, citizen science based project on mapping the human gut http://americangut.org/) I’ve focused my work on sketched visual interpretations of lab protocols to be used in classes and ideas around making this a more accessible space– the latter I believe is closely linked to visual communication and aesthetic of branding and communication to the public.

Focus Questions:

1. What learning techniques / answers are not being communicated well?
2. What isn’t being talked about in relation to Genetic Engineering?

Thanks y’all- stay tuned for more thoughts on under utilized forms of visual interpretation and considerations of the “wisdom of the crowd” in relation to current events.

Callie