Laboratory Life: 'Tattoo Traits'

Adam Zaretsky, Simon Hall, Helen Bullard & Zack Denfield 

Lighthouse Brighton with The Arts Catalyst & Wellcome Trust (2011)

An interactive art-science laboratory, exhibition and talks programme. The bio-art project 'Tattoo Traits' examined the feasibility of a new notion – DNA Tattooing. The team explored the ethical, legal, and health issues that might be raised by such a process. Within the shed-lab environment hybrid DNA was extracted and with an adapted tattoo gun they speculatively explored tattooing a novel sequence of hybrid DNA into the nucleus of living cells.  The open-lab structure sparked public engagement and debate surrounding genetic modification and advances in biomedical technology. The final exhibition of work was exhibited at Lighthouse Brighton (UK) and the Microwave Festival (Hong Kong).