Data art with biology: the new frontier of artistic expression

Can you imagine being able to create works of art with living organisms? Or use DNA as a means to store and process information? Or be inspired by the mechanisms of biological evolution to solve complex problems? These are some of the possibilities offered by biological computing, a branch of computer science that studies how we can use elements of biological nature for computational purposes, and also how we can imitate biological systems to develop new algorithms.

Biological computing is a discipline that has enormous potential to help us face some of humanity's great challenges, such as health, the environment, energy or security. But it is also a source of inspiration for artists who want to explore new forms of expression and communication, using life as raw material and the laboratory as a workshop. Thus, a trend emerges that aesthetically investigates work in the laboratory to form, with 21st century tools, a new artistic expression that is called bioart.

Bioart is an art that creates works with living organisms, whether bacteria, plants, animals or humans. Bioart uses techniques of molecular biology, genetic engineering, biotechnology or bioinformatics to manipulate, modify or create life. Bioart raises ethical, social, political and cultural questions about the relationship between art, science and technology, and about the role of the artist as creator and critic.

Some examples of bioart are:

The GFP Bunny project, by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kac, which consisted of the creation of a transgenic rabbit that expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) in its skin, which made it glow under ultraviolet light. The rabbit, named Alba, was conceived as a living work of art and a symbol of genetic manipulation.
The Victimless Leather project, by Australian artists Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr, which consisted of growing human skin tissue on a jacket-shaped polymer structure. The work sought to question the limits between the natural and the artificial, the living and the dead, and the use of skin as a material.

The Biopresence project, by American artists Shiho Fukuhara and Georg Tremmel, which consisted of inserting human DNA into the genome of trees, thus creating a way to preserve the memory and identity of deceased people. The work explored the possibilities of synthetic biology and the impact of human intervention on nature.
These are just some examples of the multiple manifestations of bioart, which has become a very rich and diverse field of experimentation and reflection. Bioart invites us to think about the meaning of life, beauty, ethics and art in the era of computational biology