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Melding Scientific and Artistic Creativity

Posted on Wednesday, January 29, 2025

By Iris Martinez

Topic: Art and science

New England Biolabs’ fourth Passion in Science Awards® recognized individuals within the scientific community across four categories: Scientific Mentorship and Advocacy, Humanitarian Duty, Environmental Stewardship, and Arts and Creativity. The Awards culminated in a celebration on Oct. 9 and 10 in 2024 at NEB’s headquarters in Ipswich, MA, USA for the 12 recipients.

In this blog, we highlight the work from the three recipients of the Arts and Creativity Award™, who had the chance to present their art during the award ceremony and poster presentation.

 

Passion in Science Arts & Creativity Award winners standing in front of brick building

Arts and Creativity Award winners with NEB podcast host Lydia Morrison. From left to right: Michael Weiner, Sam Siljee, Lydia Morrison, Sally Kong. Photo courtesy of Iris Martinez.

 


 

Ji Hyun (Sally) Kong, M.Eng.

Mitos - Handweaving My Ancestral DNA

Sally Kong's loom work — “Mitos — Handweaving My Ancestral DNA” — was created as a visual physicalization of her own mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence. Not only did Kong learn handweaving, but she utilized Python® to generate the weave pattern from her mitochondrial DNA code and created a digital simulation of the resulting textile using Houdini™.

 

Sally Kong smiling at spectators during poster session
Sally Kong presenting her mitochondrial DNA textiles at the Passion in Science Awards poster session while wearing one of her pieces. Photo courtesy of Mileidy Rodriguez.

During her poster presentation, Kong displayed two textiles, one red and black and the other beige and black. The third — black, white, and blue — was draped around her shoulders as she talked to the NEB community about her work. Using her laptop, Kong played a video detailing her process, spotlighting the four-shaft floor loom she used to create her work (one shaft for each nucleotide base: A, T, G, C). In it, she notes the significance of mitochondria being inherited solely from the egg during fertilization, mapping matrilineal ancestry.

 

Close up of Sally Kong's mitochondrial DNA tapestry
A textile in progress on Sally Kong's four-shaft loom. Photo courtesy of Sally Kong.

 


 

Sam Siljee, M.D.

The Sound of Science

Scientific creativity is crucial to advance cancer research, but artistic innovation coming from the exploration of cancerous tissues is unexpected. In Ph.D. candidate Sam Siljee’s case, the massive amount of raw mass spectrometry data from his research inspired him to consider new ways of interpreting data.

During his presentation at the Passion in Science Awards ceremony, he noted that there are five senses, so it makes sense to utilize more than only sight to interpret data, developing “The Sound of Science,” which uses reverse Fourier transformations to audibly map spectral peak mass to frequency, and peak intensity to amplitude.

 

Sam Siljee presenting an overview of mass spectrometry for the Passion in Science Awards ceremony.

The result? Otherworldly soundscapes that captivate, with ebbs and flows. To hear a sample accompanied by plots of overview and identification spectra, view Siljee’s YouTube video.

I find that, with my nonscientific friends and family, if I show them a graph, they're intimidated [...] If I say, 'Do you want to listen to some alien sounds?' it's a lot easier to get them into conversations about things like dynamic range, like complexity, like how different is cancer, really, from normal [cells].
Sam Siljee, for the Passion in Science Awards ceremony presentation.
 

 

Michael Weiner, Ph.D.

DNA Using Recycled Microtiter Plates

 

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Michael Weiner presenting during the Passion in Science Awards poster session. Photo courtesy of Mileidy Rodriguez.

 

Dot-based art often brings pop art and pointillism to mind, but Michael Weiner combined scientific techniques with creative expression through recycled microtiter plates. Using acrylic paint, Weiner utilizes the consistency of microtiter plates to create regular dots in different colors. Images are adapted into templates that map onto microtiter plates, which guide the placement of these colored dots to transform them into large-scale art.

 

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An example of Michael Weiner's recycled microtiter plate art. Photo courtesy of Iris Martinez.

 

During the Passion in Science Awards poster presentations, he showcased the wide range of art he creates, from bisque tiles with punched-out chads (the material removed when a material is hole-punched) to create halftone art to his DNA microtiter plate pieces. Other work includes an image of Albert Einstein using pipette tips and tip boxes to create two tones, highlighting Weiner’s resourcefulness and ingenuity.

These artists highlight the diverse ways to communicate science, and the beauty that can be found at the intersection of art and science. To hear more from the Arts and Creativity Awardees, check out their interview with Lydia Morrison on NEB podcast, Lessons for Lab & Life. For a full list of Passion in Science Awards recipients, refer to our press release.

 


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