Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Brown jumping spider (unknown species)

Surface of a mint leaf

Arabidopsis leaf hairs (trichomes)

Canterbury bell pollen

Varroa destructor, honey bee mite, SEM

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"1000 Handshakes" is a performance piece during which the artist shakes hands with as many people as possible, gradually changing the invisible microbial community in the palm of his hand. Periodically, assistants take a swab from the skin, and the samples are analyzed in the lab to reveal how our contact with others shapes the microbes between us. This ongoing project has been performed in different cities around the world (including Copenhagen, Montreal, San Francisco, Perth, Berlin and Baltimore) as a way to map our collective microbiome using scientific data.



Production of the 'microbiome selfies' involved many different steps. Following the collection of the microbiome samples, bacterial DNA was extracted, amplified and sequenced to create the bioinformatic data shown in this series. The nodes of the networks represent bacterial DNA sequences, and two nodes are connected by an edge (line) when the bacterial DNA sequences have more than 95% similarity. The different colours correspond to distinct samples collected at every 50th handshake, from 0 to 1001. 



This image corresponds to the 12th image in this 21-part series, showing the extensive microbiome resulting from 550 handshakes.

Photomacrograph of a jumping spider (unknown species) viewed from the front. Jumping spiders (Salticidae) have 8 eyes, 4 of which are arranged in a row on the front or 'face' of the spider. The central pair of eyes are much larger in size. Unlike most other insect eyes, these are simple eyes and not compound eyes. Jumping spiders have very good eyesight which they rely on to hunt and find a mate and as a result they are usually most active during the day. They don't make webs out of silk to catch their prey but instead stalk them and then jump on them from far away. Width of image is 1 cm.

"1000 Handshakes" is a performance piece during which the artist shakes hands with as many people as possible, gradually changing the invisible microbial community in the palm of his hand. Periodically, assistants take a swab from the skin, and the samples are analyzed in the lab to reveal how our contact with others shapes the microbes between us. This ongoing project has been performed in different cities around the world (including Copenhagen, Montreal, San Francisco, Perth, Berlin and Baltimore) as a way to map our collective microbiome using scientific data.



Production of the 'microbiome selfies' involved many different steps. Following the collection of the microbiome samples, bacterial DNA was extracted, amplified and sequenced to create the bioinformatic data shown in this series. The nodes of the networks represent bacterial DNA sequences, and two nodes are connected by an edge (line) when the bacterial DNA sequences have more than 95% similarity. The different colours correspond to distinct samples collected at every 50th handshake, from 0 to 1001. 



This image corresponds to the 10th image in this 21-part series, showing the extensive microbiome resulting from 450 handshakes.

False-coloured scanning electron micrograph of a drosophila tarsus, the part of an insect's leg furthest away from its body. Two hooks or claws visible in the centre of the image are used for attaching to rough surfaces. Below the claws lie the tarsal pads (pulvilli) which are covered in hairs (tenet setae). An adhesive substance is secreted through these hairs, which allows the fly to attach to smooth surfaces. <I>Drosophila melanogaster</I> (also known as the fruit fly) is commonly used in scientific research, particularly in the fields of developmental biology and genetics. Horizontal width of image is 103 micrometres.

Drosophila leg, tarsus, SEM

"1000 Handshakes" is a performance piece during which the artist shakes hands with as many people as possible, gradually changing the invisible microbial community in the palm of his hand. Periodically, assistants take a swab from the skin, and the samples are analyzed in the lab to reveal how our contact with others shapes the microbes between us. This ongoing project has been performed in different cities around the world (including Copenhagen, Montreal, San Francisco, Perth, Berlin and Baltimore) as a way to map our collective microbiome using scientific data.



Production of the 'microbiome selfies' involved many different steps. Following the collection of the microbiome samples, bacterial DNA was extracted, amplified and sequenced to create the bioinformatic data shown in this series. The nodes of the networks represent bacterial DNA sequences, and two nodes are connected by an edge (line) when the bacterial DNA sequences have more than 95% similarity. The different colours correspond to distinct samples collected at every 50th handshake, from 0 to 1001. 



This image corresponds to the 2nd image in this 21-part series, showing the extensive microbiome resulting from 50 handshakes.

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Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Brown jumping spider (unknown species)

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Drosophila leg, tarsus, SEM

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

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Wellcome uses cookies.

Spikes

Images

Works

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Brown jumping spider (unknown species)

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Drosophila leg, tarsus, SEM

Bacterial microbiome mapping, bioartistic experiment

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times