Synthetic aesthetics : investigating synthetic biology's designs on nature / [edited by] Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg [and others].

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, [2014], ©2014.

xxii, 349 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Synthetic biology : what it is and why it matters / Alistair Elfick and Drew Endy -- Countering the engineering mindset : the conflict of art and synthetic biology / Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr -- Design as the machines come to life / Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg -- Nature is designed / Drew Endy -- There is no design in nature / Pablo Schyfter -- Design evolution / Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg -- Bio logic / David Benjamin and Fernan Federici -- Scale and metaphor / Pablo Schyfter -- Living among living things / Will Carey ... [et al.] -- Constrained creativity : an engineer's perspective / Alistair Elfick -- The biogenic timestamp : exploring the rearrangement of matter through synthetic biology and art / Oron Catts and Hideo Iwasaki -- Time as critique / Jane Calvert -- Synthetic sound from synthetic biology / Chris Chafe and Mariana Leguia -- Abstraction and representation / Pablo Schyfter -- Living machines / Sheref Mansy and Sascha Pohflepp -- Evolution vs. design? / Jane Calvert -- The inside out body / Christina Agapakis and Sissel Tolaas -- Transgressing biological boundaries / Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg.

Includes bibliographical references and index.