GMU:Synthetic Biology/Diary

Week 1

5. August 2010

After settling on the name "Super Cell" for our Synthetic Biology Supermarket we are working on new products and details of the webshop. Discussion about what products will enter the shop and what to keep in mind when we´re working on developing ideas individual and as a group. Going away from a practical or userfriendly design process and thinking on products that can play a role in the remodelling of society. This can show impications and gives a motive for discussion. Also different cultural methods or surroundings come into play, as we want our shop to be in a possible future and not in a future present tense. To clarify these undefiened statement - an example: categories for the shop: they offer a way to tell a complex story by combining different products. To tell this story we want to leave usually, already known categories. These categories can be defiened after or within the process of creating the products. As Andreas stated, the variety of a supermarket also expresses the needs and feeling of a society. His ideas rouse around space travelling and products for an adjustable environment useful against sickness in space or the reduction of bones. Another big point in the discussion was the unification of the products. As most of them are developed individually, this is how they will look like and be represented. For comparison and a general overview which is like a cover we need to find a consistent look and a unified coorperate design. But as said - when going into details each product has it´s individual approach e.g. video, photo,animation. Bernd is working on a guideline defining the modus operandi for our products in generell, something every product in the shop has to pass. One point was to have a discussion with real scientists in HD and get their opinion on realizabillity. His ideas circle mostly about future sex life and it´s consequences - contraception/child-planning in combination with 23andMe and a modern chastity belt working with modified bacteria. Mila works on a visualization on BactoSafe - a individualized security system. I am tinkering on an idea which combines cuisine and perfumery - a fantasm of synthetically enhanced farts. Also I´m brooding on the visual realization of the DNA-Pet and the Yoga-Blob. late night-thoughts: Talking about the visualizations of Christian. Great to see a first image and start getting deeper into it. Thoughts of making it more organic and less industrial. So naturally the owner could be a farmer, with special interests. As the real shop would get more important this way, our webshop would transform into something else - more a representation, a platform, a guideline, an explanation to see the farm/shop , the whole experience. Less mass products - more individual, nicheproducts, small products.

6. August

Morning meeting with Patrick, web-design. He showes us his first draft for the page. We find it´s a bit harsh to start with the products on the first page. A intruduction needs to be made- with a static image, some explaning words or another media -> VIDEO. Main part will be a slide-show allowing the user to go through the different products of a category quickly. The feature of the slide-show will enable us to put the products in an order that makes sense to us and leaves the static view on only one product but gives an impression of a sortiment, a line, a social construct. By clicking onto the product in the slide you will come to the detailed product site. Video may be working in the slide-show as well, maybe - will be checked…

The brainstorming of the meeting with the Heidelbergians in July is finally packed in a textfile - a pool for future ideas or extensions of already existing ones. New projects are pinned on the wall and open to discussion.

9. August

workshop for Cinema 4D by Sebastian Hundertmark. I´m getting deeper into the research of farts and how they could be designed...

10. August

Skype- meeting with the guys from Heidelberg, concerning our new ideas of the basic shop conceps. We´ll meet again in person on the 26. August, which marks a milestone in the project. The process of finding new ideas is coming in it´s last round. Starting next week we will focus on the realization of the products. In the meantime Bernd, Christian S. and Christian K. will work on the storyboard for the introduction of the webshop.

11. August

First visualization trials and final collecting of ideas.

12. August

Meeting with Bernd, Mila, Andreas and Christian S.. Talking about the different products everybody is working on individually and bringing them together by presenting them in an order that makes sense in a product-line/category. Bernd made a first draft of an bacterial fridge. The fridge is very personal and differiated for the user. Unwanted food in the fridge (e.g. E 350, pesticides, peanut, etc.) could either be marked with a color or , in the more extreme version just rot away super-fast. Mila worked on BactoSafe, a biological security system. This system could maybe work with color system, as it 1. enables to see where someone entered the building and 2. does something to the possible burglar. Andreas is still in outer space, getting into the mechanisms of space adaption syndrom and possible solutions with SynBio. Concerning Mila´s security system I was thinking about the safty of your identity in form of DNA. In two forms: 1. coding of DNA sequences for electronical/digital transmission and 2. coding or distroying of DNA that is about to fall off and leave a trace. Another idea of Bernd is vegetables growing a spike to be able to personalize by taking a blood sample. Actually this spike could also be interesting for the DNA-pet. Mila explained her idea of the balcony garden and the way she wants to create a diversity between organic, vegan and synthetic manipulated lifestyles. As we were talking about vegetables we touched trecking-veggies > super-fast growing vegetables for tracking and camping enabling you to grow breakfgast while sleeping. We thought of cancer-manipulated veggies and have to research if that makes any sense. For the product "Odor Cuisine" we kind of agreed to show it in the form of a cookbook, containing also pictures of methodes and new applications concerning olfactory output :) . The Drug delivery system, an iGEM project from Emperial college in 2009 could be very helpful to place the manipulated e-coli bacs. Last two topics were Baby´s best by mila , a product which is already pretty clear , but needs some decisions on the visualization now, and the Yoga--blob by me which is contrarily a picture but needs more work on the idea itself.

Week 2

17. August 2010

First meeting with Anna and Jana, both involved in the filming for ReCoBrain. We discussed the timetable for the film-shooting and postproduction - the deadline is set very close before the flight to Boston. Ass we´re all busy, there won´t be much time for it and filming needs to be done fast. One point on the agenda for the meeting on 27. August has to be the presentation at MIT. We need to figure out when excactly it will take place (at what hour and what day) and prepare our presentation accordingly to it. Second round ot the meeting was between Vanessa, Andreas, Bernd and me. New projects from Vanessa were discussed - rest of it was bringing up ideas from last week in a nicer wrapping.

18. August

Bernd made a new mock-up for the page with structural changes, a new logo and improved design. Shortly after a meeting to update with the webteam: Sebastian, Patrick, Max. Picking out 5-10 projects to visualize fully and integrate it in the page until the 27. August. Again we have a checklist that every choosen project has to pass in order to get realized/visualized quickly : main points on the list are : is the idea fully relating to SynBio ? ; can it be described in a few words? ; are the expanational pictures also beautiful ? Selection is made and sent around… Would be great to have some more projects ready for the page within the next few days.

19. August

Working on webpage, writing product descriptions where needed, drawing sketches for the product fotos (of balcony menu and odeur cuisine). Trivia: we starting playing frisbee after lunch for 20 min and again after working on the pc - already feel muscles rising and brain-expansion due to amplified air-inducement.

20. August

Gardening and plant shaping/sculpturing. Writing on a story taking aim on a corporate identity.

21. / 22. August

Visualization for Odeur Cuisine and Contraception in combination with 23andMe. Texts for webshop.

23. August

Agenda for the workshop is planned by Sebastian and Bernd. Christian K. showed some nice new ideas ready to be visualized for friday.

Week 3

24. August

Christian and Florian are working on renderings for the webpage and christian on his project. Photos for Odeur Cuisine.

25. August

Version of the Homepage is online. The material for it is transferred into the right format. Photos are photoshopped…

26. August

Meeting with Mareike who plans a radio feature on the project. Putting the projects and pictures on the homepage. Welcoming the guys from Heidelberg with barbecue and beer…

27. August

Workshop with the guys from Heidelberg. Discussing the bacteria game, the supermarket and it´s products and reviewing the wet lab project by the HD team. Afterwards we worked in smaller groups on technical issues concerning individual products of the supermarket. The meeting helped a lot and pushed some of the ideas really forward.

--Ck schroeder 18:36, 18 August 2010 (CEST)