ABSTRACT

This paper reflects on collaboration between an artist, a scientist, and two social scientists involved in research on cultured red blood cells. Cell culture is part of a suite of methods used by bioscientists to study cellular processes outside of the living organism. The production of laboratory-grown blood is at the cutting-edge of cell culture and regenerative medicine, with hopes for significant therapeutic benefit in the future, particularly for patients with rare blood types or with conditions that require frequent blood transfusions. We reflect on our collaboration and on artistic experimentation with spatial dimensions of cells and scaffolds used in red blood cell culture, highlighting our efforts to generate knowledge that cuts across our respective disciplinary locations. We situate our work together in the context of the increasing molecularization of the body in science and medicine, and on the efforts to ‘open up’ scientific practice to multiple publics.

摘要

本文反映了一位艺术家、一位科学家和两位参与培养红细胞研究的社会科学家之间的合作。细胞培养是生物科学家用来研究活生物体之外的细胞过程的一套方法的一部分。实验室培养血液的生产处于细胞培养和再生医学的前沿，有望在未来取得显着的治疗效果，特别是对于稀有血型或需要频繁输血的患者。我们反思了我们的合作以及在红细胞培养中使用的细胞和支架的空间维度的艺术实验，突出了我们为产生跨越我们各自学科领域的知识所做的努力。