BLP-2000 / Black List Printer / BCL / Georg Tremmel & Shiho Fukuhara
DNA synthesizers can chemically synthesize or “print” DNA sequences. As this is still costly at present, it is usually carried out by specialized companies and sold as a service to universities and research institutions. This has had a serious side effect: the companies decide which DNA to synthesize—and which not to synthesize. There is an unofficial “black list” of potentially harmful and banned DNA sequences shared by these companies—officially for biosecurity reasons. “BLP-2000” is now developing prototype DNA synthesizers that print only blacklisted DNA sequences. However, because these prototypes are still error-prone, they repeatedly produce mutations in the physical DNA sequences. Printing out DNA from the “black list” also raises an ethical and social dilemma: Should it even be possible for the general public to print “forbidden” DNA? Or is it better to stop DIY DNA synthesis in the name of biosafety?
Photo is showing the artist Georg Tremmel interactong with the installation.
Credit: Jürgen Grünwald
BLP-2000 / Black List Printer / BCL / Georg Tremmel & Shiho Fukuhara
DNA synthesizers can chemically synthesize or “print” DNA sequences. As this is still costly at present, it is usually carried out by specialized companies and sold as a service to universities and research institutions. This has had a serious side effect: the companies decide which DNA to synthesize—and which not to synthesize. There is an unofficial “black list” of potentially harmful and banned DNA sequences shared by these companies—officially for biosecurity reasons. “BLP-2000” is now developing prototype DNA synthesizers that print only blacklisted DNA sequences. However, because these prototypes are still error-prone, they repeatedly produce mutations in the physical DNA sequences. Printing out DNA from the “black list” also raises an ethical and social dilemma: Should it even be possible for the general public to print “forbidden” DNA? Or is it better to stop DIY DNA synthesis in the name of biosafety?
Photo is showing the artist Georg Tremmel interactong with the installation.
Credit: Jürgen Grünwald