DNA Art
by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted May 1, 2007 in DNA Fun
Richard Hart (one of my favorite reporters) of KGO-TV in the San Francisco Bay Area had a segment on DNA art yesterday. Pieces mentioned:
- DNA 11 prints shown above
- DNA helix sculpture at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley
- Genome Quilts by Beverly St. Clair
- New York Public Library Gene Sculpture
You can watch the video here: DNA As Art Is A Growing Trend.
Ella and Jason Wong, [DNA 11] art collectors:
We wanted to, you know, make sure we got this for our children, so we can see which DNA strands copied over. And we want to see personality-wise, did it copy over, too?
Cute, but no cigar. The level of resolution in the DNA 11 prints is nowhere good enough to be able to conclude anything meaningful. Get a piece of DNA art because it’s fun, not because you think it means anything beyond the fact that yes, we all have DNA.
Tags: genetics, genes, genome, genomics, dna, dna art, dna 11

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I’ve made reference to the quilts recently at my blog and some time back I also addressed the DNA art
Some people just put their creativity to work and sometimes beautiful pieces of art come about. I love the DNA prints.
Great find!
These pictures are from a company called DNA ART. They have offices in Holland and the UK.
See http://www.dna-artuk.com and also http://www.dna-art.nl
Without getting too techincal their pictures display 12 lanes of DNA bands and the company you mention in Canada only show 10 lanes.
I bought one for me and my girlfriend last month in London.
They’re both cool looking anyway.
Regards
Terry
Thanks for letting us know, Terry! I sure wouldn’t mind having one hanging in my house.
Unfortunately I can’t find a link, but the Scottish Crop Research Institute have been producing comparative genomics diagrams consisting of a circle divided into a series of rings, with each ring showing a plant pathogen genome with homologous genes aligned. They managed to get a grant to market them as art!
Hsien, so funny! I saw this weeks ago in our local paper… here’s the link for more DNA art -
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bal-ml.dna15apr15,1,7462144.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Rick: I love the DNA prints too! I included them in my list of gifts for the DNA enthusiast.
Joe D: I think it might be the GenomeDiagram software! Good idea for a post. Thanks for letting me know. Will give you the hat tip.
Grace: Very nice! Fortunately, I haven’t succumbed to DNA kitsch yet.
I had my unique dna painted by a New York artist, I love it. I looked at dna 11 buy they are prints and I wanted a real piece of art.
It’s worth checking out
http://www.dna-art.com
Rgds
Robert
Thanks, Robert. Looks like I need to make a new list of DNA art.
Fascinating, Hsien. Thanks for sharing…especially the quilts, since I’m a quiltmaker and quilt blogger.
Mary Emma: You forgot to tell everyone your quilting blog is at http://www.quiltingandpatchwork.com/ !
[...] already mentioned the brilliantly colorful DNA 11 DNA Portraits before but they’re worth mentioning again. Although, it might give this former lab jockey a few [...]
[...] Hsien directed my attention to her blog post, DNA Art, at Eye on DNA, and Genome Quilts by Beverly St. Clair. Beautiful and [...]
[...] NB: See other forms of DNA art. [...]
[...] At Metal-i-Genics Studio, Dr. Peter N. Gray combines both sides of DNA’s importance in our lives by creating sculptures and paints that reflect concepts from genetics, microbiology, and physics. Formerly head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine among other impressive scientific achievements, Dr. Gray is now a full-time artist. He’s also a part-time educator currently teaching an arts and science class at Dixon Elementary School near Chicago where children learn about genetics by isolating DNA from vegetables, participating in the National Geographic Genographic Project, and making science-inspired art. [...]
[...] Terry Lovelocke also left a comment in my post mentioning DNA 11 prints. He pointed to DNA Art that also produces prints but with a DNA [...]
The uniqueness of the fingerprint depends more on the region of the DNA that is targeted than the number of lanes. DNAlux proposes 6 lanes, but I think that if you ask they can do more for bespoke artworks (www.dnalux.com).