Research Symposium

BIO

Sophia Lockwood is a second year Biology major from Martin County, Florida. Sophia is passionate about biomedical sciences and microbiology and hopes to apply this interest in a future career in medicine. Sophia is particularly interested in understanding the biological mechanisms underlying human disease and how scientific research can contribute to improved treatments and patient care.

BioArt: Visualizing Malignant Tissue Under the Microscope

Abstract

Microscopic bio-art is an interdisciplinary field integrating both arts and sciences, drawing on biotechnological tools to investigate biotic systems as artistic subjects. Through the use of biological structures as subjects, bio-art is able to foster the collaboration of differing disciplines, as well as educate the public about science, thus increasing the general population's scientific literacy. Malignant tissue consists of cells characterized by unregulated growth and the ability to spread throughout the body, arising from DNA mutations that disrupt the normal cell cycle and enable the cells to evade apoptosis. Viewing malignant tissues as an artistic subject allows for a deeper understanding of the structural changes that differentiate cancerous tissue from healthy tissue at the microscopic level. Several malignant tissues, ranging from cerebral to cardiac tissue, were viewed through a variation of multiple microscopy techniques. The techniques used included light microscopy, specifically darkfield and phase-contrast imaging. This interdisciplinary study seeks to show the complex structure and behavior of malignant tissue while also fostering public engagement with cancer biology.

Keywords: BioArt, Microscopy, Biology, Photography