Vilnius meeting 2017

siNbiozė

The newly shaping DIYBio network is emerging in Nordic and Baltic region which connects the researchers, makers, artists, scientists via their shared interest in DIYBio and their desire to shape own future by the process of making. It brings together biolabs, individuals and organisations from Nordic, Baltic and other European countries and represents the critical mass currently working in DIYBio field, coming from grassroots initiatives.

The international meeting DIYbio Vilnius 2017 with a coded name "siNbiozė" is an attempt to realise the possibility of symbiosis of scientific and artistic practices, aimed at development and presentation of ideas, questioning the possibility to visualise essential scientific information and approach such areas as genetic engineering and life-programming.

An exhibition, two public workshops and a panel with discussion will take place during DIYbio Vilnius 2017, followed by internal meeting of network participants. Offering activities in real laboratory and also home-like environment, as well as philosophical/theoretical, scientific and hands-on approaches, this meeting will allow to discuss the issues of self-repair, creation/altering of organisms as well as bioethics/biosafety from multiplicity of perspectives.

The event is organized by Institutio Media in collaboration with Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM and Technarium. It is kindly supported by the Nordic Culture Point, Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius Municipality and International Semiotics Institute of Kaunas University of Technology.

More information on the project http://www.howto-things.com

Public Programme

Friday, September 29, 2017

• 12:00 Workshop with Technarium “Lichen biohacking: revealing the secrets of the forgotten part of the forgotten kingdom” and Fingerprint workshop. „Sodų 4“, Sodų Str. 4, Vilnius

• 17:00 Keynote lectures: Ursula Damm, Gabrielius Jakutis. Life Sciences Center, Saulėtekio Al. 7, Vilnius

• 18:00 Panel/Discussion “Bioethics, biosafety, creation of organisms”. Participants: Ursula Damm, Gabrielius Jakutis, Mindaugas Gapševičius, Gediminas Drabavičius (?). Moderation: Kristupas Sabolius. Life Sciences Center, Saulėtekio Al. 7, Vilnius

Saturday, September 30, 2017

• 12:00 Workshop with Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM / “How genetic modification influences the functioning of bacteria?”. Life Sciences Center, Saulėtekio Al. 7, Vilnius

• 17:00 Internal meeting. Project space „Sodų 4“, Sodų Str. 4, Vilnius

• 19:00 “Self-repair" exhibition. "Self-repair" is conceived and organized by Mindaugas Gapsevicius in collaboration with Lina Rukevičiūtė, Gailė Griciūtė, Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team, and Technarium. Project space „Sodų 4“, Sodų Str. 4, Vilnius

Exhibition "self-repair"

Recent workshops on making penicillin at home and research on how to clone one’s own body have opened up a relatively unexplored field of DIY practices related to experiments with the body. On the other hand, similar experiments are often associated with AI in science fiction movies and novels.

One of the better known self-surgeries under “real-life conditions” was performed by Leonid Rogozov. In 1961 during his expedition to the Antarctic, which at that time was not really an inhabited place, Rogozov performed an appendectomy on himself. While humanity dreams about space travel, we often forget to ponder the question of “What if…?” What if there is no chance of asking others for help, fulfilling one or the other task? What if certain experimentation is restricted by law? There are also other related questions, like “How far can I experiment with my own body?” or “To whom do parts of my body belong if they are detached from my body?

In the context of this event, self-repair is a reference to non-traditional cases where certain social considerations are excluded under existing circumstances, or a reference to the contexts of malfunctioning systems, especially of those related to one’s own body. Self-repair is about an ability to identify and to fix one’s own systems. Self-repair is also about experiments that might not be tolerated by society and that might instead be considered unethical.

Workshop “Lichen biohacking: revealing the secrets of the forgotten part of the forgotten kingdom” by Technarium

Lichens are great symbiotic organisms, able to survive the most hostile conditions and forming the basis of the ecosystems in which other organisms are unable to grow. Lichens grow very slowly; some of their species are known as one of the oldest organisms on Earth. Unfortunately, lichens are yet largely understudied by scientists and misunderstood by the public. Molecular features of lichens are of particular importance due to their specific growing conditions and the variety of species – what mechanisms and materials influence lichen “longevity”? Can we use such mechanisms for ourselves, for example, solving the crisis of antibiotics. During this lichen biohacking workshop different types of DNA will be analysed aiming to uncover this underestimated source of useful information.

Workshop “How genetic modification influences the functioning of bacteria?” by Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM

Transformation is one of the main methods in recent biotechnology and genetic engineering, used to genetically modify microorganisms. During this process plasmids (small circular DNA molecules, which contain genetic information and which grant new scientist-determined features to microorganisms) are transferred into the cell. Thus microorganisms can be turned into micro–factories, producing products needed by humans – from insulin for treating diabetes, to various ferments, included as ingredients in washing powder for stain removal.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria is the bacteria most commonly modified by scientists. By changing information, stored in the plasmids, this bacteria can gain new, naturally uncommon features rather easily. This workshop will present a method allowing to visually distinguish the activities and features between natural and genetically modified E. coli bacteria. Also questions such as “How did scientists ‘domesticate’ microorganisms and what tricks did they teach them?”, “Are these creatures obedient, and what else is awaiting us?” will be discussed.

Panel/Discussion

“Bioethics, biosafety, creation of organisms”. Participants: Ursula Damm, Gabrielius Jakutis, Mindaugas Gapševičius, Gediminas Drabavičius (?). Moderation: Kristupas Sabolius.

In her lecture, Prof. Ursula Damm talks about experiences gained during the iGEM 2010 competition in a collaborative science & arts project. Referring to Jakob von Uexküll's biosemiotics, Damm will delineate a behavior-based approach for future Bioart projects. Prof. Ursula Damm holds Media Environments chair at the Bauhaus University Weimar. Her artistic work incorporates the media-based deployment of living environments and interactive spaces.

In his lecture, Mr. Gabrielius Jakutis will present ethical issues and biosafety concerns relevant to the field of synthetic biology and the construction of synthetic life, as well as explain the importance of establishing a mutual partnership between scientists, lay public, and specialists of social sciences and arts. Gabrielius Jakutis is the last-year medical student at the Vilnius University and currently is preparing for the international synthetic biology competition with Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team.