Synthetic Aesthetics: Connecting Synthetic Biology and Creative Design

综合美学项目将把开发和应用强大的工程生物学新工具的科学家和工程师与擅长创造美丽物体的艺术家和设计专业人士聚集在一起。该项目将探索基因工程和生物技术的工具如何适应和扩展，以服务于广泛定义的创造性设计过程。该项目还将为科学和工程团体提供不同设计界的智慧和专业知识，这些设计界共同分析和开发了与自然世界和谐相处的生产系统的方法。更广泛的影响该项目将使和支持更广泛地获得生物技术工具。具体而言，通过探索如何负责任地使艺术和创意设计界能够使用下一代生物技术的新工具，该项目将确保在与生物技术相关的社会问题的讨论中更广泛地考虑许多观点，并参与许多声音。此外，通过使下一代生物工程师能够从城市规划、建筑、环境研究、平面设计等方面的经验中获得智慧，该项目将有助于确保生物技术的任何未来应用，从大规模生物能源装置到环境修复项目，都将更有可能对人类和自然环境作出积极贡献。换句话说，该项目将使人们能够考虑新的工程方法，其中从自然和生物学中吸取的教训可能会更好地告诉我们如何处理和承担我们与生活世界的互动。

Scientific & Intellectual MeritThe Synthetic Aesthetics project will bring together scientists and engineers who are developing and applying powerful new tools for engineering biology with artists and design professionals who are expert at creating beautiful objects. The project will explore how the tools of genetic engineering and biotechnology can be adapted and extended in service of creative design processes, broadly defined. The project will also provide scientific and engineering communities with access to the wisdom and expertise of different design communities, who have collectively analyzed and developed methods for producing systems that are in harmony with the natural world.Broader ImpactsThe project will enable and support broader access to the tools of biotechnology. Specifically, by exploring how to responsibly enable the artistic and creative design communities with the new tools underlying the next generation of biotechnology, the project will ensure the broader consideration of many perspectives and the participation of many voices in discussions regarding social issues associated with biotechnology. Also, by enabling the next generation of biological engineers to gain wisdom from the lessons of urban planning, architecture, environmental studies, graphic design, and so on, the project will help to ensure that any future applications of biological technologies, from large scale bioenergy installations to environmental remediation projects, will be more likely to contribute positively to both the human and natural environments. Stated differently, the project will enable the consideration of new approaches to engineering, in which lessons from nature and biology might better inform how we approach and take responsibility for our interactions with the living world.