The Barcode of Life: Environment – Evolution – Exuberance - Bill Lowe Gallery in Atlanta
The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) has teamed with Washington state mixed-media artist Joseph Rossano, University of Pennsylvania and Costa Rica forest biodiversity ecologist Dr. Daniel Janzen and Ontario biodiversity genomics researcher Dr. Paul Hebert to present The Barcode of Life: Environment – Evolution – Exuberance, debuting on December 4, 6-9 p.m.
Comprising mixed media sculptures of butterflies and polar bears by Rossano alongside Janzen’s large format photographs of Costa Rican butterflies and caterpillars, the exhibition invites us to consider our impact on the other life forms on our planet as well as the emerging role of DNA barcoding in cataloguing the world’s vast – but threatened – biodiversity. DNA barcodes, which are incorporated into each of Rossano’s pieces, are, similarly to the barcodes used to identify products at the checkout stand in stores, representations of short stretches of an organism’s DNA that are unique to each individual species of life. Their use in cataloguing biodiversity was pioneered by Hebert, whose team at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO, at the University of Guelph) leads the world in DNA barcoding efforts. Rossano has entitled his sculpture series BOLD, named for the Barcode of Life Data Systems, the global resource analyzing and retrieving DNA barcodes, developed and curated at BIO.
To read the press release on the opening of the exhibit click here
To view the information pages created by OGI to accompany the show click here
