Fermenting Futures

“Fermenting Futures” explores the significance of yeast biotechnology from a cultural and aesthetic perspective, engaging audiences in the history and future of this important but under-recognised field. 

The central artwork in the series explores and physically contains a CRISPR modified Pichia pastoris yeast that is simultaneously able to capture carbon and output lactic acid for the manufacture of biodegradable PLA plastic - for 3D printing. 

The sculpture comprises a glass vessel containing the bubbling modified yeast, sustained by a mass of tubes, atop a block of horse chestnut wood. 3D printed yeast forms incorporating the yeast-produced PLA plastic swarm across the container. 

The artwork extends two research projects in the Institute of Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, which use genetic modification techniques and directed evolution. One project resulted in Pichia pastoris yeast capable of capturing carbon and using it to produce animal feed, and another where Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast eats sugar and produces lactic acid.