Week 8: Nanotechnology and Art

            Nanotechnology is something which I am very familiar with. In my time at UCLA, I’ve had the pleasure of personally working on a nanotechnology project in engineering functional protein cages. Designed protein cages are designed so that they can self-assemble, but they generally cannot be taken apart again. We introduced protein sequences into engineered cages, so an enzyme called thrombin could cut the cages open and release whatever was contained in the cages. This was a proof of concept that we could eventually use these cages to deliver drugs to very specific areas of the body. Our cage would only open in the presence of thrombin which is present near blood clots. Our cage would theoretically deliver anti-coagulants to dissolve the clot and prevent strokes. It was extremely exciting to work on and even more so when it worked; however, there was a lack of excitement outside of the scientific community. I only really understood why after I read more about nanotechnology and the visualization of such technologies.

Computer images of protein cages I worked on. The cages are above and
cage subunits are shown below with red indicating where we modified them.
Both cages were approximately between 16-13nanometers in diameter
Personal Photo

            In the scientific community, this was a large step forward as no one had previously done this, but to the public this meant nothing. The issue was that they couldn’t visualize what was happening and “most people's understanding of nanotechnology remains limited”; however, “Recently, some artists have suggested that a perceptual shift has to take place in our minds if we want to comprehend the work of nanoscience” (Lovgren, 2003). It is difficult to image what happens on the scale of nanometers, our only tools are computer simulations, scanning electron microscopes, and dynamic light scattering techniques. These are good at creating still images, but I believe that the sciences must be more interactive with the public, possibly working with artists as “Both nanotechnology and media arts, by their very nature, have a common ground in addressing the issues of manipulation, particularly sensory perception, questioning our reaction, changing the way we think. They are complementary” (Gimzewski and Vesna, 2006).

 

Diagram of scanning electron microscope (SEM)
Photo from Susan Swapp

            It is important that the public understand more about nanotechnology and its potential to aid advances in medicine, like our protein cage, or other areas like the creation of new artworks using nanoparticles (Feder, 2008). In either case, the public needs to know more about the implications and function of nanotechnology so that they can better understand its implications and applications. Art is a medium which can cross this bridge to engage the public more in the sciences.

Artworks using and inspired by nanotechnology
Photo by NanoArt 21 from article by Darnaby Feder

References

"Art Conservation And Nanotechnology: A Wonderful Confluence Of Arts And Sciences". 2017, http://sustainable-nano.com/2017/05/12/art-conservation-and-nanotechnology/. Accessed 28 May 2018.

Feder, Barnaby. "The Art Of Nanotech". The New York Times, 2008, https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/. Accessed 27 May 2018.

Gimzewski, James. Nanotech Jim Pt 4. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHCuZetAIhk. Accessed 27 May 2018.

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. "The Nanoneme Syndrome: Blurring Of Fact And Fiction In The Construction Of A New Science". Technoetic Arts, vol 1, no. 1, 2003, pp. 7-24. Intellect, doi:10.1386/tear.1.1.7/0.

Lovgren, Stefan. "Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier To Understand?". National Geographic News, 2003, https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1223_031223_nanotechnology.html. Accessed 27 May 2018.

Swapp, Susan. Scanning Electron Microscopy. https://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geochemsheets/techniques/SEM.html. Accessed 28 May 2018.