1,570 days, 2,407 entries ...

Newsticker, link list, time machine: HOLO.mg/stream logs emerging trajectories in art, science, technology, and culture––every day
● 22/06/2022
“Plants are already extremely efficient carbon fixing machines, resulting from millions of years of evolution, so I still remain to be convinced that CRISPR can do much to improve carbon sequestration at the scale we need.”
– César Terrer, an MIT assistant professor focused on plant-soil interactions, on a new $11 million push by the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) to alter rice plants for improved carbon removal
The Verge
● 23/03/2022
“We expect that our decision will encourage other developers to bring animal biotechnology products forward for the FDA’s risk determination, paving the way for [genome-edited] animals to more efficiently reach the marketplace.”
– The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Steven Solomon, on the agency’s approval of the first CRISPR cows. The new breed was ‘engineered’ to endure climate change: their slick, short hair is said to help the animals cope with hot weather.
Modern Farmer
● 24/08/2021

Collaborating with microbiologists at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (AT), bioartists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May premiere Fermenting Futures at the 15th International Congress on Yeasts. The work explores a Pichia pastoris yeast that Dumitriu and May CRISPR-modified to capture carbon and output lactic acid for the creation of biodegradable plastic. The project aims to highlight the potential of yeast—“the workhorse of biotechnology”—and is scheduled for several major exhibitions in 2022.

Anna Dumitriu
● 18/01/2021
“Although it felt a little creepy engineering a drug-resistant strain of E. coli in my kitchen, there was also a sense of achievement, so much so that I decided to move on to the second project in the kit: inserting a jellyfish gene into yeast in order to make it glow.”
– Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Mass Extinction (2014), on CRISPR as a commodity that could help revive—or finish—threatened species
The New Yorker
● 11/01/2021
“What you’re offering by [encoding digital data as DNA] inside the cell is the machinery the cell has to protect its DNA.”
– Harris Wang, system biologist at Columbia University, on successfully inserting binary code for “hello world!” into the DNA of living E. coli bacteria using CRISPR. In their paper, Wang and team claim that, compared to other DNA-based data-storage methods that rely on in vitro synthesis, in-cell encoding can maintain information over many generations in natural open environments.
New Scientist
To dive deeper into Stream, please or become a .

Daily discoveries at the nexus of art, science, technology, and culture: Get full access by becoming a HOLO Reader!
  • Perspective: research, long-form analysis, and critical commentary
  • Encounters: in-depth artist profiles and studio visits of pioneers and key innovators
  • Stream: a timeline and news archive with 1,200+ entries and counting
  • Edition: HOLO’s annual collector’s edition that captures the calendar year in print
$40 USD