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ARTWORKS

 

The work (12 metres by two) is my personal elaboration of the 23 chromosomes present in the map of the human genome. A detail of each chromosome is seen in close-up, a ‘zoom’ shot of a particular region of interest (in the order of 100 megabases) that highlights a particular genetic structure and the sequencing of that given chromosomic segment enlarged one billion times. A gene with a particular function and involved in a particular disease has been chosen from each chromosome. In the case of chromosome 15, and its segment q25, for example, the highlighted gene is believed to be responsible for pulmonary cancer. Each chromosome contains a number of genes, some better understood than others, and our understanding of these represents a major challenge for the sciences of medicine and biology.

The scientific information used to realize the map was taken from e!Ensemple

http://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Info/Index, which produces a genome database and makes the information available free and on-line. The geneticist Gianni Soldati contributed to identifying the genome loci highlighted in the work.

 

     

      Daniela Papadia

 

 

 

EME_artworks

EME

 

All the body’s organs need its constant supply of oxygen and nutritious substances. Here we focus on representing hemoglobin, the molecule that captures external oxygen and transports it to every cell. Hemoglobin is composed of various elements that cooperate with each other in order to give us life. Hemoglobin is what gives blood its typical red color and is thus a symbol of vitality, renewal, growth and cooperation. Its structure is determined by its specific DNA sequence.

Each molecule of hemoglobin is composed of four heme groups and four chains of amino acids. In the scientific alphabet, each amino acid in a chain is represented by a letter. Thus the sequence of letters in the basic pattern of the work is not casual, but faithfully represents the sequence of amino acids determined by its gene.

As in the example illustrated below, it becomes possible to identify words and highlight specific letters in the work.

 

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