Paraffin wax, aluminum, and polyethylene
foam
Acrylic case: 13 3/8 x 17 1/4
x 4 3/4" (34 x 43.8 x 12.1 cm)
The E. chromi project is the result of
a collaboration between Royal College
of Art Design Interactions graduates
James King and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg
and the iGEM (International Genetically
Engineered Machine) 2009 Team of
the University of Cambridge. iGEM is
a yearly competition, held at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, between
undergraduate student teams working
in the field of synthetic biology. Synthetic
biology is an area of scientific research
focused on the possibility of redesigning,
engineering, and constructing entirely
new biological systems. The iGEM
Team of the University of Cambridge,
for example, took E. coli, bacteria found
in the human gut (and generally harmless;
only a few strains are dangerous enough
to cause illness and death), and altered
them so that they would change color
when exposed to various chemicals
produced by the body in the presence
of different pathogens.
King and Ginsberg collaborated with
the team on potential applications for
the engineered bacteria. The outcome
was a new diagnostic system called
E. chromi: a straightforward method,
using the body’s natural output, of
visualizing a patient’s internal conditions.
The patient ingests a drink, much
like a probiotic shake, laced with the
engineered E. coli; the bacteria react
with the enzymes, proteins, and other
chemicals that are present in the
gastrointestinal tract and turn different
colors for different diseases, thus
changing the color of the patient’s
feces. These colors are presented in
King and Ginsberg’s Scatalog, a collection
of samples in a briefcase that demonstrate
an array of E. chromi results in
immediate visual terms. The designers
give us access to the complex networks
and systems of the human body.
