MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'biomedicine'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:54:18 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992742&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F07%2F02%2Frepresenting-the-contentious%2F I found this interesting – consider it in light of museum materialities and aestethics: “The symposium will also consider why academic and artistic projects are subject to different degrees of ethical oversight and how the final outputs of such projects are shaped by their prospective consumption in the public domain.” See below for the full call ——————————————————————————————————– Representing the Contentious:  A Symposium Dr Bronwyn Parry and Ania Dabrowska, Artist Mind Over Matter, Wellcome Trust People Award Call for papers. 14th October, 2011 10 am – 4 p... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992742 Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:20:23 +0100 4992742 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952932&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F06%2F17%2Ffluttering-brains%2F I’m not sure if Suzanne Anker‘s “Biota” (Porcelain, rapid prototype figurines, 2011) is fun, imaginative, engaging or plainly irritating (the fluttering movements are not kind to my overstimulated synapses): Anyway, it’s an illustration to a talk titled “Fundamentally Human: Contemporary Art and Neuroscience”, which Suzanne Anker is giving at the Suna Kıraç Conferences on Neurodegeneration in Istanbul on 25 June. In addition to scientific value, neuroscientific images, concepts and theories reflect shifts in perception and expression. In part, brought about by technological intervention, what was once thought to be the stuff of science fiction is now actually real. Fundamentally Human: Contemporary Art and Neuroscience, explores the ways in whi... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952932 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0100 4952932 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893523&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F06%2F03%2Fgenomic-jewellery-an-illumina-beadchip-necklace%2F We’ve just produced this simple piece of genomic jewellery — a necklace made by a gene chip in a thin silver chain (see larger image below). This particular gene chip (BeadChip) is produced by the San Diego-based company Illumina, which develops and manufactures platforms for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function for the rapidly growing sequencing, genotyping and gene expression markets. First, here’s some technical description of the Illumina BeadChip (based on what our senior curator Daniel Noesgaard has found out): A BeadChip is a ~30 x100 mm silica slide containing twenty-four arrays, each allowing for genotyping of a single biological sample. Each array contains a very large number of microscopic microwells etched into the surface of the... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893523 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 08:00:22 +0100 4893523 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4622281&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F03%2F22%2Fgenomic-enlightenment-the-video-behind-the-installation%2F The installation Genomic Enlightenment, which was pre-showed last night for a specially invited scentific audience interested in “deep sequencing” , has involved a lot of work. This is a movie about the skills, joy and team-work that went into making and putting up the beautiful, glimmering wave of microarrays. The installation can be seen in the entrance hall of Medical Museion from Wednesday 23 March. Stay atuned for news about the official opening. Tweet (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4622281 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:00:46 +0100 4622281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4615157&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F03%2F21%2Fqueen-ingrids-rollator%2F On my continuing investigation into the aesthetics of rollators I was told about the Danish Queen Ingrid. After falling and breaking her hip, she appeared in the summer of 1998 for the first time publically using a rollator. Photographs and news footage of her shows her dressed in a glamorous couture gown and pushing a matching coloured rollator. Going to a gala wearing her prom dress and matching rollator and proudly escorted by her grandson Prince Frederik became a powerful image that encouraged others not to be ashamed of their rollators. Determined to draw this culturally and historically important artifact I found that there was an exhibition about Queen Ingrid’s life at the Amalienborg Museum. In the final room many of Queen Ingrid’s clothes were on display and in a long glass d... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4615157 Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:00:13 +0100 4615157 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4536062&cid=t_200474_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdetecting-circulating-tumor-cells-with-gold-nanoparticles%2F2011.03.02 Our modern armamentarium for treating cancer is impressive, but sometimes, despite our best treatments, tumor cells continue to lurk in the bloodstream, seeding metastases throughout the body. Researchers at Emory have developed a way to monitor for these circulating tumor cells using gold nanoparticles. This technique has been used before, but difficulty was encountered because white blood cells are close to the same size as some tumor cells, so they would both be tagged, necessitating a laborious multi-antibody staining process. “The key technological advance here is our finding that polymer-coated gold nanoparticles that are conjugated with low molecular weight peptides such as EGF are much less sticky than particles conjugated to whole antibodies,” says Shuming Nie, Ph.D., a profes... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4536062 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:00:03 +0100 4536062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489715&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F02%2F16%2Fa-manifesto-for-creating-science-technology-and-medicine-exhibitions%2F Two weeks ago I mentioned that the Museums Journal had published Ken Arnolds and my Dogme 95-style manifesto for creating science, technology and medicine exhibitions, first presented last September at a conference organised by Medical Museion in Copenhagen. We have now received the journal’s permission to publish the full version of the manifesto. Enjoy and/or criticize! Just over 15 years ago, Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg spearheaded Dogme 95, a manifesto to purify the art of film-making. The aim was to engage audiences more profoundly and make sure they weren’t distracted by over-production. The Dogme manifesto ruled out special effects, post-production changes and other tricks in order to focus on the story and the performances. Since then, writer... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489715 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:43:31 +0100 4489715 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4472974&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F02%2F13%2Fcan-you-display-the-anarchistic-attitude-in-science-with-the-help-of-material-and-visual-objects%2F There is a strong disciplinary element in science, which university politicians, research foundations and science managers prefer to emphasise. What they usually don’t understand, but which most (younger) scientists know very well, is that there is also a strong playful and anarchistic dimension in scientific practice. Somewhat akin to the dichotomy between apollonian and dionysian. A feature article in the last issue of The Scientist suggests that “creativity, do-it-yourself individualism, anti-establishmentarianism and attitude” make science more akin to punk music than most people would believe. Here are some quotes: “Punk ethos is typified by a passionate adherence to individualism, creativity and freedom of expression with no regard to established opinio... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4472974 Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:00:30 +0100 4472974 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361048&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F01%2F18%2Fmalaria-museum-coming-up%2F We got this cuddly edition of the malaria parasite from Marco Herbst who was here visiting the museum last week, to get inspiration for his upcoming Malaria Museum in Berlin. Marco’s approach to making a museum was refreshingly nontraditional. Far from being webbed up in museological concepts and theories, he builds on a growing fascination with his subject along with the human instinct to collect interesting things. The former owner of a night club in Dublin and a bar in Berlin, Marco has some of the passion and personality of the renaissance collector with his cabinet of curiosities. I’m looking forward to popping by his museum for my daily gin and tonic – a drink originally invented to prevent malaria, as the tonic water contains the alkaloid quinine. But of course ba... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361048 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:29:51 +0100 4361048 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361049&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2011%2F01%2F17%2Fdrawing-experiences-of-ageing-lotte-residential-care-home-copenhagen%2F Upon arrival at Lotte residential care home on 7th December, I was greeted with the trappings of a party. The dining room had been recently decorated with candles and baubles for Christmas and the tables were set with Danish flags and napkins in honour of a resident’s birthday. A chair was placed for me at a table. I sat next to Ingrid and opposite Inge and Nis. I had met Nis the previous week but he had no memory of me. He was very pleased to talk and introduced Inge to me as his fiancée.  Ingrid remembered me but did not recollect that I had drawn her. She seemed very pleased to see the drawing of herself when I showed it to her. After eating together, I chose to depict Inge and Nis sitting next to each other in one drawing. Inge was very elegant and beautiful. Her silver hair still ... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361049 Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:00:13 +0100 4361049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4275349&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F12%2F20%2Fthe-intensive-care-unit-on-display%2F One of my favourite fellow bloggers, medical photographer Øystein Horgmo, has just written about how he was recently invited to document a family taking farewell of a young father in an intensive care unit. It’s a moving story. But what actually caught my interest was this painting (by medical doctor Joseph Dwaihy and artist Sara Dykstra), which Øystein uses the illustrate the story. Based on a photograph from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre’s first intensive care unit, circa 1955 (read more here), the painting is reminiscient of Norman Rockwell-realism. Like Rockwell, Dwaihy and Dykstra portray people in mundane situations. It’s people who play the primary role. The instruments are background props. Compare Dwaihy and Dykstra’s painting... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4275349 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:04:10 +0100 4275349 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4219778&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F12%2F02%2Fdrawing-experiences-of-ageing-lotte-residential-care-home-copenhagen-24-november-2010%2F Visiting Lotte residential care home is always an experience. The first thing you notice upon entering is there are no signs warning you of something or pictograms and ideograms giving instructions. The next thing you notice is the lack of plastic. No carers in wipe down aprons, no wipe clean table clothes, plastic beakers or bibs. The tables have tablecloths, the residents have lunch as anyone would, using normal cutlery and china plates and they have beer or wine with their meals. This is not an institutionalized feeling care home. My first session of drawing there was on November 24th. After sitting and speaking with the delightful Nis who was an architect responsible for the main design around Rådhuspladsen, I sat next to Ingrid as we all played Bingo (Danish: Banko). Ingrid is 96. I ... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4219778 Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:00:13 +0100 4219778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4197123&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F11%2F24%2Fart-in-museums%2F This session at the conference in September circled around the role of art in the museum, and how museums and artists can and should work together. The first speaker, Karen Ingham, emphasized that the concept of art in museums essentially refers to interdisciplinary happenings and should always be a product of dialogue. She talked about how museum- and other spaces speak to us, and how the space can function as a creative catalyst and a link between museums and artists. Read Karen’s full abstract here. Silvia Casini explained how her work with the aesthetics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) led her to undergo several scannings herself and how she in the end became an artist, video-maker, and curator in order to represent these very personal and yet elusive images. Read Silvia’s full... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4197123 Wed, 24 Nov 2010 12:13:11 +0100 4197123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4183323&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F11%2F19%2Fviews-of-ageing-rollator-drawings-part-2%2F Rollator drawings, 30th September – 4th October 2010: Continuing my appreciation of the aesthetics of seemingly ugly and mundane artefacts we associate with ageing, I investigated a second rollator. This was a contemporary model. It had a clear plastic tray, a wire shopping basket and four wheels rather than three for extra stability. It was squatter, sturdier and in some ways even uglier than the earlier three wheel model. The hidden complexities and detailing within the design meant it took much longer to draw than I had anticipated.  I intentionally drew it from the position someone would see it if they were approaching it to use it. The moulded plastic on the handles had been textured for extra grip and had an organic quality. The bolts and connections remained evident but were mor... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4183323 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:00:41 +0100 4183323 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4175749&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F11%2F17%2Fviews-of-ageing-rollator-drawings-part-1%2F Rollator drawings  27th–28th, 28th–29th September 2010: When I began drawing the rollator I asked myself why I was drawing something that was so boring, so ugly with no interesting features. I was reminded of the talk Nurin Veis, Deputy Head Sciences – Science Communication and Senior Curator of Human Biology and Medicine at Museum Victoria, Australia, gave at the EAMHMS conference. In her talk about issues in displaying the cochlear implant, Nurin stated that the problem lies with our insistence in seeing the ‘black box’ item as ugly and not suitable as a museum artefact. Rather than trying to avoid it, rewrite it change or replace it with something explaining something about it, she asked why couldn’t we just accept it and learn to appreciate it? Maybe it is our job to see... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4175749 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:18:41 +0100 4175749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133800&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F11%2F02%2Fseduction-of-the-flesh%2F Ugh! Last week I visited New York. What really spoke to my senses and touched my emotions in a provocative and morbid way was a toe-curling exhibition of works by the American artist Paul Thek (1933-1988) at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art. To be honest the works on display managed to freak me out a bit and that’s always a good indication of the effectiveness of an exhibition. Even though I was quite disappointed about the architectural arrangement and the setting, which in general seemed a bit unfinished, I really enjoyed the display of works made by Thek. Especially the untitled pieces of meat from the series Technological Reliquaries made out of wax, hair, metal, wood, plaster, cord and paint presented in acrylic glass vitrines! My first reaction: Ugh, dramatic and vulgar! Secondly... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133800 Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:39:15 +0100 4133800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4082125&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F10%2F19%2Fart-and-communicating-medicine%2F At the conference “Contemporary medical science and technology as a challenge to museums” in Copenhagen last month, one of the very hot topics was art. What contributions can art make to exhibitions of contemporary medicine? The first speaker of this session, Yin Chung Au from Taipei, pointed out that we should move away from displaying the frozen end product of medical science, and show objects in use instead. Visitors don’t get their experiences from being awed by the wondrous possibilities of contemporary science, but from personal experiences with the objects. MedArt can help us display the processes of medical science and allow people to engage with it. At the same time it can blur the boundaries of traditional medical ways of thinking, and expose scientific discourse as normat... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4082125 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:00:16 +0100 4082125 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4074122&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F10%2F15%2Fcurious-collections-and-exhibitions%2F This session at the conference “Contemporary medical science and technology as a challenge to museums” in Copenhagen last month circled around the concept of the Renaissance Wunderkammer, and how we might use techniques of curiosity and wonder to engage people with scientific and historical objects. Joanna Ebenstein —who writes the blog Morbid Anatomy— talked about how we can use the feelings an object or a collection of objects evoke to make the museum visit a personal and interesting journey. Joanna suggested we display artefacts in a way that appeal to the visitors’ curiosity. Better let people be inspired to investigate objects and their history for themselves, instead of presenting them with an educational fact sheet. Curiosity cabinets don’t tell straight fo... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4074122 Fri, 15 Oct 2010 10:10:56 +0100 4074122 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031288&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F10%2F05%2Fan-ageing-world-a-science-design-installation-about-global-demography%2F We’ve just set up the installation ‘An Ageing World’ in the main lobby of the Faculty of Health Sciences here in Copenhagen. The installation has been made to mark the IARU-conference on Ageing, Longevity and Health that takes place 5-7 October, organised by the Center for Healthy Ageing. The simple idea was to make a commentary on the rapidly changing demographic of the human population: Protruding from a round earth disc, soaring a couple of feet above the floor, are age structure diagrams (histograms) from seven countries around the world (Denmark, China, Japan, United States, Bolivia, Malawi and Papua New Guinea) for the years of 1950, 2000 and 2050. The histogram protrusions are illuminated from below by means of fiber optics in contrast to the dark-blue earth disc. ... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031288 Tue, 05 Oct 2010 08:00:57 +0100 4031288 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031289&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F10%2F04%2Fxvivos-powering-the-cell-mitochondria-the-magic-of-the-inner-life-of-the-cell-has-evaporated%2F Back in 2006, I, for one, was unreservedly enthusiastic (here) about XVIVO’s animated ‘The Inner Life of the Cell’. Originally made for use in undergraduate life science teaching at Harvard, it became immensely popular on the internet. It was magic — as  Jim Endersby said , it was like “Terminator 2 meets a biology textbook”. Since then we have eagerly waited for Terminator 3. And now the sequel has arrived — a four and a half minute animation, titled ‘Powering the Cell: Mitochondria’, showing the production of ATP. But I cannot recall the original enthusiasm I felt about ‘The Inner Life of the Cell’. The magic has evaporated. This is just another didactic animation movie. (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031289 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:01:45 +0100 4031289 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4027200&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F10%2F04%2Fan-ageing-world-an-installation-about-global-demography%2F We’ve just set up the installation ‘An Ageing World’ in the main lobby of the Faculty of Health Sciences here in Copenhagen. The installation has been made to mark the IARU-conference on Ageing, Longevity and Health that takes place 5-7 October, organised by the Center for Healthy Ageing. The simple idea was to make a commentary on the rapidly changing demographic of the human population: Protruding from a round earth disc, soaring a couple of feet above the floor, are age structure diagrams (histograms) from seven countries around the world (Denmark, China, Japan, United States, Bolivia, Malawi and Papua New Guinea) for the years of 1950, 2000 and 2050. The histogram protrusions are illuminated from below by means of fiber optics in contrast to the dark-blue... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4027200 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:00:19 +0100 4027200 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3965476&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F09%2F14%2Fusing-our-collections-to-put-current-trends-in-microscopy-in-perspective%2F One of our basic aims here at Medical Museion is to put current trends in biomedicine in a longer historical perspective. Last Friday, we got yet another opportunity for doing this, when the new Core Facility for Integrated Microscopy at the Faculty of Health Sciences opened together with an international research symposium on the state-of-the-art of microscopy. In the hallway outside the symposium room, we displayed a selection of six of our most beautiful old microscopes that represent the development from early simple single lenses to end of the 19th century compound microscopes. The aim was to make the symposium participants better appreciate the beauty of early microscopes and the craftsmanship that has gone into constructing them. During the lunch break, I had a chat with Peter Even... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3965476 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:00:47 +0100 3965476 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3961838&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F09%2F13%2Fdavid-goodsells-cell-art%2F The covers of most major scientific journals are plastered with beautiful, realistic pictures taken with the latest advances in microscope technology. This month’s Nature Medicine is no exception. Few of these images, however, have the qualities of David Goodsell’s works of art. Goodsell, based at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, creates hyperrealist paintings that render the molecular world not as an abstract, diagrammatical space as we know it from biochemistry textbooks, but as a teeming, chaotic, dense and beautiful mess. They are simple, yet they portray the complexity and distinct organization of subcellular life in a way that no ‘real image’ can. For example, Goodsell’s pseudocolor depiction of HIV — shown here in cross-se... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3961838 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 08:00:22 +0100 3961838 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3942826&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F09%2F07%2Fcan-you-love-plastics%2F Is a mass produced plastic chair just as good as an old, handmade wooden one? Yesterday Susan Lambert, Head of the Museum of Design in Plastics in Bournemouth, and professor of art history Marcia Pointon visited us to look through our collection of artifacts made of plastic. They are planning a new research project focusing on our relationship with plastics in a hospital context, and would like to have Medical Museion as one of their research partners.               Ion showed us plastic dentures from the 1860s, a very realistic plastic arm with painted finger nails, and colourful plastic leg pads for children. Even though museums in general look down on plastics as an inauthentic material, we actually found a lot of objects in the collections, which partly or totally consist... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3942826 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:11:14 +0100 3942826 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3808694&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F08%2F01%2Fthe-aesthetics-of-disgust%2F Medical museums are often described as temples of horror. Invoking strong feelings of anxiety, fear and disgust, they remind their visitors of the frailty of life, disease and pain, bodily deformations, decay and death. To make sense of such emotional responses we would need a better understanding of the aesthetics of anxiety, fear and disgust. Katrin Baumgarten at the Royal College of Art in London is one of the pioneers in this field. She is currently investigatng ‘revolting objects’ which exert a certain ‘macabre attraction’ over the subject, leading to a peculiar absorption in the object and lending a magnetism to this aversion. Like this electric switch which blurps out some yucky goo when you press it: Baumgarten claims that the ‘power of disg... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3808694 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:30:06 +0100 3808694 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3805857&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F07%2F31%2Fthe-aesthetics-of-healthy-aging%2F As you may know, Medical Museion takes part in a multidisciplinary Center for Healthy Aging here at the University of Copenhagen. Currently, two of our junior researchers, postdoc Lucy Lyons and phd student Morten Bülow, are doing their research projects within the scope of the Center, and we are about to recruit yet another phd student. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to readers of this blog that our contribution to the overall Center activities involves a strong aesthetic component. For example, we experimented with an aesthetic approach to aging in the Oldetopia exhibition two years ago. Lucy’s joining our group last December was a deliberate attempt to strengthen the aesthetic side. And the current exhibition ’Healthy Aging: A Life Span Approach&#... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3805857 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:00:40 +0100 3805857 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3753862&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F07%2F14%2Fcan-you-inhapt-an-object-as-a-haptic-alternative-to-inspect-2%2F Instead of saying that we investigate an object, we often use the verb ‘inspect’. According to my dictionary, the ‘in-’ prefix is an intensifier and the ‘-spect’ suffix is derived from the Latin verb specere, meaning ‘to look at’, ‘to see’. To ‘inspect’ then is more than just seeing or looking at something. It means to look intensely, carefully and closely. This is of course what museum curators do all the time when they get new objects into the collections. They look carefully at the objects and often document the inspection by means of photography (or drawing or painting). But often curators investigate objects through other senses than vision. For example, they touch and smell the objects, sometimes deliberately, or... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3753862 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:00:41 +0100 3753862 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3658987&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F06%2F14%2Fthe-activity-of-looking-what%25e2%2580%2599s-in-a-name%2F Being invited to join a drawing workshop usually elicits one of two reactions. Either enthusiasm because the person likes to draw or they think the idea sounds interesting or different. The other response is to dismiss the idea completely. This reaction seems to be prompted by two main preconceptions about drawing. The first is that it is arty or simplistic, a bit of fun so would have no relevance to other more serious research activities. The other preconception seems to stem surprisingly from fear. ‘But I can’t draw’ or ‘I haven’t drawn for years’ come the plaintiff explanations for foregoing the chance to partake in any workshops. The fear of being seen to be unaccomplished at the seemingly simple yet daunting task of drawing has caused a surprising lack of takers to partici... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3658987 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:02:25 +0100 3658987 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648572&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F06%2F10%2Falzheimer-opera-at-the-royal-opera-london-in-july-art-biomedicine-and-public-engagement-with-science%2F Here’s another new example of a apparently fruitfull collaboration between art and biomedicine – an opera called The Lion’s Face exploring Altzheimer’s disease and dementia. This time even with a public engagement with science twist. As Felicity Callard – who were involved in the production of the opera, and who just advertised it on the Neuroscience and Society mailing list – describes: Fundamental to the development of the opera was the sustained involvement of patients, healthcare staff, family members, as well as basic & clinical researchers. The librettist & composer visited the biomarkers labs, talked extensively to the various stakeholders and witnessed various practices of dementia care. The opera premiered at the Brighton Festival in May... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648572 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:35:13 +0100 3648572 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3590368&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F05%2F23%2Fscience-as-a-material-and-sensuous-world-vs-history-of-science-as-a-textual-and-disembodied-world%2F Here’s the introduction to a talk titled ‘Cultures of Meaning and Cultures of Presence: The use of material objects in the history of science, medicine and technology’ that I gave at the Museo da Ciencia da Universidade Lisboa two weeks ago (see flyer here and resumé in Portuguese here); the images are from the web and for general illustration only: Before I went into history of science and medicine (and then medical museology), I took a Masters in chemistry, zoology and historical geology (major). Today, when I look back on my student years at a distance, I realise these disciplines were very much about the handling of tangible material stuff, involving all five senses. Chemistry, zoology and geology students were not just thinking about or viewing the world ... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3590368 Sun, 23 May 2010 10:39:19 +0100 3590368 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3457856&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F04%2F11%2Fthe-aesthetics-of-derelict-medical-instruments-and-devices%2F As you may remember, we here at Medical Museion have a soft spot with the aesthetics of decay, especially delapidated medical instruments (see, for example, this post). This great image epitomizes the notion of the aesthetics of decay. It’s shot in an abandoned surgery room somewhere in the eastern part of Berlin, in the former Sovjet sector. Photo by Andreas Swane © All rights reserved. Used with kind permission. More here.  Andreas describes himself as “a hobby photographer from Oslo”, who hopes that his future photo specialty “will be derelict / abandoned places here and there”. “The beauty of old and decayed places fascinates me”, he says on his Flickr page. (thanks to Øystein for the tip) (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3457856 Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:03:44 +0100 3457856 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3408415&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F03%2F25%2Fdrawing-medical-museum-artefacts-second-workshop-at-medical-museion%2F On Monday 22nd March we held the second group drawing workshop at Medical Museion. I was joined by five others to draw one of the artefacts from the ‘6 ting og sager’ exhibition. The specimen is the skeleton of a young child who had suffered with Rickets or ’English disease’ as it is known here. What was most noticable about the morning was the intense silence. We are used to sitting for a couple of hours at the cinema or in front of the tv. but it is rare to be amongst a group of people who spent two hours staring at a single, static object. The drawing session allowed those who had already seen the specimen to re-see it in a new way and offered a new experience for those who had never seen it before. All found they saw more and more detail the longer they spent looking ... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3408415 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:37:04 +0100 3408415 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3378521&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F03%2F18%2Fdrawing-medical-museum-artefacts%2F We have had our first drawing workshop here at Medical Museion. Three staff members — Anni, Camilla and Nanna — participated in a group drawing workshop. The specimen we drew is an example of bones of the middle ear mounted in a magnifying glass and placed on a small wooden plinth. It comes from the Ibsen-Mackesprangske collection made between 1824 and 1836 and was taken from a collection made of inner ear bones of 55 deaf people at the Danish Deaf Institute. This object forms part of the collection chosen for the ‘6 ting og sager’ exhibition, which opened last Friday (see presentation in Danish here). The object was placed in the centre of the table. Anni and Camilla sat on one side and Nanna and I sat opposite. All three drew more than two or three drawings on o... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3378521 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:00:42 +0100 3378521 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3335376&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F03%2F05%2Fthe-alterrealist-museum%2F In the early morning — just before Johanna began to make the usual noices to indicate she wanted to be transferred to our bed for a last cosy hour of sleep — my eyes fell on this sentence in a piece by Douglas Haddow in Adbusters (‘The coming barbarism’): Rather than Bourriaud’s altermodernism, we should pursue an alter-realism: dispense with the art gallery altogether and make reality our experimentation lab. I admit it’s taken out of context. Nevertheless, try to translate the sentence into the domain of science/medical museums and sci- and bioart, as represented by, for example, the Wellcome Collection: Dispense with the sci- and bioart gallery and make scientific reality our experimentation lab. In other words, don’t move the aesthetic out of t... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3335376 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:45:38 +0100 3335376 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3283563&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F02%2F18%2Fcontemporary-bodies-new-technologies-new-collections%2F A few months ago, I advertised the meeting ‘KörperGegenwart, neue Technologien, neue Sammlungen’ to be held at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden, 22-24 April. Now the program has been finalised — and it looks very good! After a plenary discussion on ‘Schauplätze der Schönheit: Klinik, Kunst, Medien und Museen’ on Thursday evening, there follows two days of presentations, most of which seem to be very relevant for the future of medical and science museums: ‘Körperspuren im Deutschen Hygiene-Museum. Strategien und Objekte’ (Susanne Roeßiger, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden) ‘Auf Biegen und Brechen. Zur (In)Formierung des Körpers’ (Stefan Rieger, Ruhr-Universität Bochum) ‘Der Körper und seine Teile. Vom Präparat ... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3283563 Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:00:30 +0100 3283563 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3208425&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F01%2F26%2Frepomen-a-fictional-study-in-organ-circulation%2F Can’t wait to avoid seeing Repomen when it is released in a theatre near me later in the spring. The trailer shows Jude Law, Forest Whitaker and a lot of lesser known stars running around killing each other in a near future when artificial organs can be bought on credit and some people can’t afford to make the payments on hearts, livers and kidneys they’ve purchased. Probably says more about the cultural expectations around the new transplantation future than about medical research. The dramaturgy doesn’t look particularly inspiring. (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3208425 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:57:22 +0100 3208425 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3159768&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F01%2F10%2Fmedical-history-objects-art-objects%2F The Mori Art Museum in Tokyo is currently showing an exhibition called ‘Medicine and Art: Imagining a Future for Life and Love’, showcasing 150 works of art — some are installations designed by artists, other are historical medical artefacts that are contextually transmogrified into art objects by being situated in the art museum space, like these: From Boing Boing. Adds to my general impression that the identity of a medical artefact — as a historical museum artefact, as a clinical tool, as an art object, etc — is all about context. Framing means everything. (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3159768 Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:57:13 +0100 3159768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3153403&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2010%2F01%2F08%2Fanother-yuck-factor-coming-up%2F I seem to have acquired a strange interest in therapies involving animals. Especially if they trigger ‘the yuck factor‘. Leeches and maggots have been used for centuries and are also used in biomedicine today. Whereas these tiny crawling creatures are used externally (fixed on or in the skin), parasitic worms are used internally — the patient drinks a cocktail of worm eggs. Why? Well, most people have heard of MS (see here), but how many have heard of this particular experimental treatment: Once the eggs are inside the body, they will hatch into worms that live in the gut. It is hoped they will then stimulate the release of a certain type of immune system cell that will allow the body to heal the damage done by MS  Interesting but also … yuck! (Source: Biomed... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3153403 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:51:49 +0100 3153403 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3111445&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F12%2F22%2Fbiomedical-molecules-as-jewelry%2F Four years ago, San Francisco-based biochemist Raven Hanna quit protein sequencing and began designing silver necklaces and earrings in the shape of molecules instead. Today she sells more than 2000 pieces a year:  neurotransmitter earrings, endorphin necklace, amino acid jewelry, serotonin cufflinks, and so forth. For details and order form, see her website, Made with Molecules: See also interview in San Francisco Chronicle online. She could have been part of our Design4Science exhibition last spring. (Thanks to Jessica for the tip) (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3111445 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:05 +0100 3111445 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3079370&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F12%2F11%2Fhave-you-ever-seen-a-molecule-art-science-and-visual-communication%2F In late March, Rikke Schmidt Kjærgaard (which several of us here at Medical Museion met when she gave a seminar here a couple of years ago and who is now working at the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge) is organising a meeting of great relevance for anyone interested in biomedicine on display, whether in museums or on the screen. Titled ‘Have you ever seen a molecule? Art, science and visual communication’, the two-day meeting at the Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), 25-26 March, concentrates on the correlation between art/design and molecular biology, in particular structural biology, and on the impact of the arts and artistic practices on scientific culture. Current molecular biological research is ve... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3079370 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:20:15 +0100 3079370 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3059739&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F12%2F05%2Fway-too-neat-lab-bench%2F Seed is running a series of monthly portraits of workbenches of interesting people (like Oliver Sacks, a renowned bat expert, an industrial designer, etc.) The latest portrait, published in yesterday’s online issue, is the lab bench of Martin Chalfie, one of the three who won a medical Nobel last year for the discovery of green fluorescent protein (GFP). The image on seedmagazine.com is interactive (of course) — that is, you can blow up details with accompanying texts. Nifty, but …. what struck me when I first saw the image was that Chalfie’s lab bench doesn’t look authentic. Take a look at the magnified version below — it is way too neat and tidy! It looks like the photographer has cleaned up and arranged everything in orderly fashion before sh... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3059739 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:00:08 +0100 3059739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3035906&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F11%2F27%2Fwhy-we-are-annoyed-by-the-music-of-engelbert-humperdinck%2F Did you know that even bacteria are annoyed by the music of Engelbert Humperdinck? (Yes, you are not the only one). E.coli bacteria can’t stand it. It’s all (sort of) true: Adam Zaretsky once spent 48 hours playing Engelbert Humperdincks’s “Greatest Hits” to a dish of E.coli bacteria to determine whether vibrations or sounds influenced bacterial growth. Watching the bacteria’s antibiotic production increase, Zaretsky decided that perhaps even cells were annoyed by constant subjection to “loud, really awful lounge music.” Quoted from here. Any questions? :) (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3035906 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:00:59 +0100 3035906 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3033606&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F11%2F27%2Fcuratorial-and-artistic-techniques-in-investigating-and-presenting-biomedical-bodies%2F We are of course not the only museum that struggles with how to juggle art, science, materiality and medicine in our exhibitions. Next Friday, 4 December, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Cambridge is organising a most interesting afternoon symposium titled ‘Assembling Bodies: Art, Science & Imagination’. Curators and artistic contributors to MAA’s current experimental exhibition with the same name will explore techniques of investigation and presentation — including relationships between the body and material things, the potential of exhibitions as research projects, incorporating different sensory engagements in museum display, and accommodating multiple audiences. After an opportunity to see the current exhibition there will be four p... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3033606 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:00:30 +0100 3033606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3003798&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F11%2F18%2Fbetween-meaning-culture-and-presence-effects-contemporary-biomedical-objects-as-a-challenge-to-museums%2F An online-version of Adam’s, Camilla’s and my essay ”Between meaning culture and presence effects: contemporary biomedical objects as a challenge to museums” is now available on the website of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Here’s the abstract of the paper: The acquisition and display of material artefacts is the raison d’être of museums. But what constitutes a museum artefact? Contemporary medicine (biomedicine) is increasingly producing artefacts that do not fit the traditional museological understanding of what constitutes a material, tangible artefact. Museums today are therefore caught in a paradox. On the one hand, medical science and technologies are having an increasing pervasive impact on the way contemporary life is lived and un... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3003798 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:00:51 +0100 3003798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2993776&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F11%2F15%2Fbeyond-text-memories-monuments-machines-and-madeleines%2F My email inbox is continuously inundated with announcements for workshops, seminars, colloquia, conferences and other kinds of academic gatherings, covering all possible shades of the academic spectrum, of the slightest interest for our job here in the museum. I must admit that over and over again I get a feeling of deja vu (”is there still someone who finds this kind of stuff interesting?”) — but sometimes an announcement pops up on the screen that brings me out of the state of boredom. Like the recent call for papers for a postgrad symposium on ’Mediated Memory: Of Monuments, Machines and Madeleines’ at the University of Glasgow, 29 January next year. Sponsored by the AHRC’s current “Beyond Text” programme (!), the symposium is organised in three pan... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2993776 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:52:08 +0100 2993776 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2879426&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F10%2F10%2Fsmoking-smoking-smoking%2F I have often been amazed by the steps taken to prevent people from smoking and I have found two gadgets to keep people from the habit quite fascinating: A years worth of tar and Smoking Sue. It now seems that the Danish government wants to play hardball. For quite some time smokers have been used to having warning signs on packages stating that cigarettes are dangerous and potentially deadly. I find it surprising to what extent even the size and font of the letters of the warning are regulated by law. Here’s a quote from § 10:”The general warning […] must cover 30 pct. of the surface of the relevant side.” And a bit further down in § 11, part 1: “Printed in black, bold characters in font Helvetia on white background.” Here taken from the Danish law regulatin... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2879426 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:00:07 +0100 2879426 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2871719&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F10%2F07%2Fis-the-physical-announcement-board-a-threatened-academic-species%2F When I was a student, announcement boards — with flyers for conferences, graduate courses, seminars, new books etc. — were centrepieces in the hallways of Academia. In many departments they still are. Like this well-groomed one in the Dept of Philosophy at the University of Leeds (where I visited to give two talks last May). But with all these emerging new social web media, will the academic announcement board have a future? Well, maybe not if you think in terms of the board above. Seen without people in front of it, it could as well be substituted with a Facebook dashboard. But what about this: (from here) This image (from the University of Kaunas, Lithuania) illustrates the fact that a physical announcement board allows you to touch the news of the academic world, e... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2871719 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:00:52 +0100 2871719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2862515&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F10%2F05%2Fprotein-sculpture-in-the-making%2F In continuation of last week’s post about protein art — here is a (somewhat dated) YouTube-movie about the making of such a beast: It’s an interview with German physicist-turned-artist Julian Voss-Andreae working on his antibody sculpture ‘Angel of the West’, now placed in front of the Scripps Research Institute in Florida. Voss-Andreae comments in Leonardo, vol. 38: pp. 41-45, 2005: The main idea underlying these sculptures is the analogy between the technique of mitered cuts and protein folding. The sculptures offer a sensual experience of a world that is usually accessible only through the intellect. (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2862515 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:30:23 +0100 2862515 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2858653&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F10%2F04%2Fnih-stimulus-grant-to-virtual-library-of-cell-images%2F As some of you may have noticed, the online Image & Video Library of The American Society for Cell Biology has been closed since February, and nobody knew whether it would be opened again. Last Thursday the ACSB announced, however, that the site will be re-opened and developed further by means of a $2,5 million ’stimulus grant’ from the NIH (one of the consequences of the new Obama administration). According to ACSB’s press release, the present image and video collection will be turned into “a comprehensive, international digital library” and furthermore, by “developing a systematic protocol for acquiring, reviewing, annotating, and uploading the images”, the ASCB will create “an efficient platform for building the library at a rapid rat... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2858653 Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:20:32 +0100 2858653 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2857432&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F10%2F03%2Fon-the-boundary-of-visual-and-performative-arts-and-biomedicine%2F Ever noticed that the uniform resource locator (a.k.a. url) of this blog is www.corporeality.net/museion? I’ve just realised there is a url-alike in the same business as ours, namely www.CORPOrealities.org. CORPOrealities is the website of a research project “situated on the very boundary of visual and performative arts and biomedicine”, which free-lance Viennese sociologist and artist Christina Lammer has carried out together with a team of visual artists, curators, historians and caregivers at the Medizinische Universität Wien (MUW) during the last five years. The project is interesting in a ‘Biomedicine-on-display’-perspective because Lammer and her co-workers have used video as an ethnographic method for translating human experiences of illness and suffe... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2857432 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:00:15 +0100 2857432 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2846399&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F09%2F30%2Fprotein-sculpturing%2F In the last ten years or so, in the wake of the renewed interest in protein research and proteomics after genomics, we have seen more and more artists making protein sculptures. See, for example, Graphic Thought Facility’s neon protein artwork, or Colin Rennies glass sculpture of ATP synthase, or Julian Voss-Andreae’s wood and steel sculpures of proteins, just to mention a few. Here’s another recent example. Herwig Turk sent me these images from his current exhibition gaps (with Paulo Pereira and Johannes Hoffmann) at the Museu da Ciência, Coimbra, Portugal (the museum of the Universidade de Coimbra): Made by ropes and epoxy and coloured with red ship paint, gaps is based on a 3D-model of connexin43 drawn by PhD-student Steve Catarino at Universidade de Coimb... Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2846399 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:36:11 +0100 2846399 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2842580&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fmicrornas.html Until 2001, few people had heard the term micro ribonucleic acids, but these little chunks of nucleic acid, just 21 to 23 bases long, have been conserved throughout evolution. They don’t code for proteins, but they do seem to be involved in the regulation of immunity, the development and differentiation of immune cells, antibody production and the release of chemicals involved in the inflammatory response. So micro by name, but not by nature, you might say. Indeed, microRNA, or miRNA, represent something of a new paradigm in the regulation of a vast array of responses of physiological and hence medical importance. They play a key role in diverse such diverse areas as virology, embryogenesis, differentiation of stem cells, cholesterol and fat metabolism, inflammation and (of course) c... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2842580 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:00:37 +0100 2842580 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2838958&cid=t_200474_107_f&fid=34860&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corporeality.net%2Fmuseion%2F2009%2F09%2F28%2Fthe-colours-of-biomedical-lab-equipment-in-this-case-blue%2F If the colour of medicine is green — what is (are) the colour(s) of the biomedical laboratory? And how have these colours shifted over time? I’m asking, because David just sent this image of a “gorgeous MacBeth densitometer” (cat.nr. 1998.0174) telling me he’s now looking around for “space age blue” in his museum’s collection. I guess the biomedical laboratory is a more rainbowish affair. Consider this awesome Sartoblot: (see earlier post here) (Source: Biomedicine on Display) Biomedicine on Display blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2838958 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:00:16 +0100 2838958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2367975&cid=t_200474_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fj1PsK-WOiCs%2F I know that when Aunt Julie (aka my sister) reads this, she’s going to say, “You want to WHAT? You want to inject your son with PARASITES?” Very important to read the all-cap words with just the right amount of amazement. One day, I’m sure, they’ll have some more answers to autism’s causes and effective treatments. Right now, thought, it’s like we’re all bumping into each other in the same dark room, looking for the door to get out. Every now and then someone says, “Try the gluten-free, casein-free diet!” And you think, “Nah, that just doesn’t seem right to me.” And you’ve read from people who seem reliable and sensible to you that it’s not effective. Then you bump into someone who says, “Helmin... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2367975 Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:01:00 +0100 2367975