#public engagement in science

‘Imaging’ – an Art-Science Exhibition by Ally Wallace

Posted on October 18, 2015October 18, 2015 by et Al.

For the last 10 months Glasgow-based artist Ally Wallace has spent two days a week in residence in the Nimmo lab at the University of Glasgow. Now the results of this exciting art-science collaboration are on show at The Memorial Chapel, Main Building, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ. The show runs until 6th of November.

Using a mixture of iPad drawings, felt-tip pen sketches, gouache paintings, and video pieces Ally has produced an eclectic mix of art as a means to interpret the scientific process in an imaginative and thought provoking manner. Ally has used everyday lab objects, sights and sounds to explore creativity in science. From inter-woven plastic bands found on a (messy!) lab bench (linked nucleotide chains?), to de-constructed images of agar plates (scientists like to deconstruct theories and put them together again, no?) to intriguing sound-scapes of the lab – the exhibition will certainly open your senses to the the engine room of scientific discovery – the lab.

Of the work Ally said “The aim of the project was to make art in response to the laboratory environment, focusing in particular on the work carried out by Allan, a Research Associate in Hugh’s group. The Plant Science group uses several different approaches to study the plant circadian clock, particularly the ways in which variations in temperature and light influence the clock and hence plant behaviour. Exhibiting here in the Memorial Chapel gives the work an additional edge. It is slightly surreal to show the outcomes of an art/science residency in such an emotive and seemingly unrelated venue as this and there is an interesting relationship between the work and the space which houses it”.

Further details of the art-science residency and Ally’s other work can be found, here, and the link to the exhibition video piece is: https://vimeo.com/141990692

The project has been funded by an Artist-in-Residence Grant from The Leverhulme Trust.

A Circadian Kinetic Sculpture

Posted on June 3, 2015June 3, 2015 by et Al.

Hi – here’s a fun lab-based representation of the circadian clock! It’s been put together using everyday bits-and-pieces found in the lab, and includes things that oscillate, or cycle, and there’s also a balance to represent clock compensation. There’s also some quite random things to add to the concept of the clock responding to chaos. The sculpture has been developed as part of Ally Wallace’s Art-Science collaboration with the Nimmo lab, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Check out the link, here, for more details.

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It’s Nice-2-Alt Splice

Posted on May 22, 2015June 3, 2015 by et Al.

Here’s a music-video on alternative splicing. For more details click here

‘Splicing’ – the cartoon

Posted on March 20, 2015March 20, 2015 by et Al.

I’ve been working with Ally Wallace to develop cartoon-like drawings that illustrate our research – here is some work in progress. I like the lab soundscape in the background. The aim was to develop something that might appeal to a younger audience, and tries to take an imaginative approach to the subject. Maybe a bit too wordy, so I’m now doing much more stripped back drawings – these were all done on an iPad using the ProCreate app. Then again, maybe it would be better as a short pamphlet/book….let’s see.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

Posted on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015 by et Al.

Grosser_Panda — The Giant Panda, *Ailuropoda melanoleuca*. Eats shoots and leaves. Image from wiki.

I was asked the other day if I could explain our research in 45 seconds, and after fumbling about with cumbersome nuggets such as ‘post-transcriptional mechanism’ and ‘spliceosome‘ and ‘exon-intron junctions’ decided it probably needed a drastic change of tact!

Anyway, it struck me that one of the key things to get across about alternative splicing is how important the inclusion (or exclusion) of an exon in a pre-mRNA has on how the mRNA is read or interpreted. If you substitute reading RNA messages with English grammar it reminds me of a funny Panda-related sentence that Hugh introduced me to a while back. It emphasises just how important a comma (or alternate exon, for example) has on the whole interpretation of the message. Compare these two sentences describing Pandas:

Eats shoots and leaves OR Eats, shoots and leaves

Notice how the comma completely changes the whole meaning and interpretation of the statement.

I think that this could be a good way to try to put across the key feature of splicing. Can it be done in 45 secs? Watch this space!

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