Synthetic biology, a new way of evolution

Fossil findings and molecular biology data allow a fairly precise reconstruction of the 3,5 Billions of years evolution of life. Nevertheless this accumulated data and knowledge do not allow any prediction of the future of evolutionary events to come.

In the foreseeable future, methods emerging in synthetic biology might enable the “engineers of biology” to design new species of living organisms.

The ultimate step in synthetic biology would be the construction of a new animal species or even a new “creature” that could be seen as the next stage in human evolution. Thus, synthetic biology might be considered as an intentional extrapolation of evolutionary events.

The sculptures shall symbolize the non predictable evolution of men despite the input and application of upcoming technologies in synthetic biology.

In the sculptures the multiple sense organs, such as eyes, noses, components of the skeleton or changes in scull dimension symbolize the non-predictable self induced evolution of man.

The continuous changes in the morphology of the sculptures symbolize the crucial trial and error events during a biological evolution driven by humans.

Although being part of such a process, the results are unimaginable and incomprehensible due to human intellectual limitations. Thus, synthetic biology alerts us of the time–limited existence of man.