Reactable

http://www.reactable.com/products/live/design/

BioFilm

http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=948&Page=2

Turning cancer cells into a work of art

Stefanie Reichelt, a scientist at the Cambridge Research Institute, believes that cancer cells are beautiful. In fact, when viewed under a microscope, she thinks that all parts of the human body - from chromosomes to sperm - are visually arresting.

As head of the microscopy laboratory, the images that her team produce are crucial to developing new treatments. The pictures focus on cell division, a process that spirals out of control in cancer, leading to the formation of tumours.

But Reichelt also has an artistic streak. She was so taken with the beauty of the cells, artificially stained with a rainbow of vibrant colours to highlight certain features, that she started to make a collection of etchings based on the microscopic vistas.

Her work is on display at the institute, although she admits that the pictures are not always greeted with enthusiasm. “People sometimes say ‘Oh no, pictures of cancer cells, that's horrible.' But then they see that they are actually very beautiful.”

The exhibition is free and runs until September 30, 10am-5pm seven days a week, at ArtCell, the art gallery at Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Research Institute; tel: 01223 404180,http://stefaniereichelt-photographyandprints.org

SPIN CYCLE

This etching is based on the nucleus of a cell. Acting as the cell's headquarters, it contains all the precious genetic material, held in a long spiralled string. The red dot is the nucleolus, a sub-section of the nucleus.

This cell is in the so-called quiet phase, the time between busy periods of division. Scientists once thought that our cells were inactive at this point, before realising that they were in fact performing many vital functions, invisible even through a microscope.

The image, right, is a real cell. The nucleus is the black area, with the surrounding material, termed cytoskeleton, stained green.

X-TREME CLOSE UP

This is an etching of a real chromosome, based on what Reichelt observes through her microscope. Chromosomes are organised structures of DNA, grouped into genes. The bands, painted with fluorescent dyes, represent the positions of certain genes. In disease diagnosis and research, “painting chromosomes” can help scientists to detect abnormal genes, which may indicate cancer.

The etchings are produced by scoring the image on to a metal plate, covering it with ink and printing on to paper. Each colour requires a separate plate, so the image is built up layer by layer.

LIFE RACE

Fertilisation is the moment when a sperm and egg join together, and the genes from the mother and father combine to form a new life. This etching is based on what scientists see when observing the process through a microscope. Although Reichelt would not normally observe this process, as her work is based on cancer cells, many researchers spend hours watching it. The observations can provide clues as to why a couple has difficulty conceiving.

THE BIG SPLIT

This is an etching of what Reichelt believes is the most dramatic process that our cells perform: division, when one cell becomes two. It keeps us alive, and healthy, but can be deadly if it goes wrong. When cells divide, genetic material is duplicated before splitting into two identical portions. Here, the chromosomes have duplicated, making a butterfly shape. The “wings” are then pulled apart, with one side going to each new cell. In cancer, the mechanisms that keep the genetic material intact often malfunction.

ONE BECOMES TWO

In this etching, which Reichelt based on real scientific images, one cell is dividing to make two. Scientists are interested in this process because errors can result in cancer.

The V-shaped structures are chromosomes, which hold a cell's genetic material. Special strings pull them to opposite ends, ready to make two new cells. A real image (right) shows the strings highlighted in green.

SCIENTISTS TURN THEIR HAND TO TEXTILES

When the scientist Sir Tim Hunt won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2001, he never imagined that one day he would be helping to make wallpaper. Or that four of his fellow Nobel prizewinners would be making dresses, rugs and fabrics.

They are not the latest victims of the credit crunch, but are teaming up with research fellows from Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design to produce textiles based on their scientific discoveries. The results of the project, funded by the college and the Medical Research Council, go on show in London this month. Hunt, who discovered a crucial process in cell biology, worked with the designer Rachel Kelly. His Nobel-winning experiments used sea urchin eggs, which inspired Kelly's wallpaper design (left). Meanwhile, Sir Peter Mansfield, who developed the scanning technique magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), worked with the dress designer Shelley Fox, who made clothes, based on scans, to represent our changing body shapes.

Cancer Cells Paintings

Artist: Angela Canada Hopkins
http://www.canadahopkins.com/large-single-view/Cancer%20Cells/226195-1-7424/Painting.html

Syndyn [MaxMSP, Game, Environment]

Created by André Rangel and Anne-Kathrin Siegel, Syndyn is a physical game but also a visual environment where the players control all the audiovisual events that occur in the space/time of the game. They perform a live show and simultaneously produce a database of light drawn images.

The space where the event takes place is colored with light which is controlled by players movements. Their rackets and arms are decorated with electro luminescent wire and the shuttlecock (speeder) with a bright LED, providing vivid dynamic scenic effects.

In the beginning of each game, users choose on an iPod ™ touch device a soundscape associated with visuals and colors for the ambience lighting system. Syndyn rackets are equipped with sensors that detect each hit of the speeder. A radio transmitter system broadcasts the sensors data to the central processing unit (computer). The hits on the rackets are accompanied by synchronous real-time synthesized sounds, by an instant change in the ambience light color according to the previous players choices and by real time generated visuals.

In addition to this real-time audiovisual response, players can also take a visual memory of their game. A long exposure photographic camera covers the playing area. This camera registers the traces that represent the trajectories and movements of the lighting speeder, the lighting racquets and the lighting arms. The resulting drawings of light, can be automatically printed with photographic quality paper and offer to players. These images are automatically stored in a database that feeds a web photo gallery.

Literally the possibility of drawing with this game, gives Syndyn its original and innovative character: being simultaneously an artistic, sports, and entertainment event that merges aesthetics, physical activity, technology and entertainment.

Amazing drawing based on cancer cell

Normal cell vs. cancer cell