Talk: DNA sequencing as digital insight into biological beings

A feeling for the organism: DNA sequencing as digital insight into biological beings. Join us for a special talk and exhibit by Dr. Elzabeth Henaff.

Advances in DNA sequencing technology make personal genomics a reality both in the clinical context as well as a consumer service. This breakthrough has lead to a paradigm shift in biomedical research that needs to be discussed from ethical, personal, and philosophical perspectives. How better to start this discussion than through art? Elizabeth Hénaff will talk about DNA sequencing, how it may soon affect our daily lives, and present her recent work PerSe, an interactive installation based on the human DNA sequence.

Elizabeth Hénaff was born of French/American parents in Austin in 1981, grew up in France, and has since lived in the US, Japan and Spain. She received a BS in Computer Science, an MS in Plant Biology (both from UT Austin) and a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Barcelona. The impetus behind her research is a fascination with the way living beings interact with their environment. She has made contributions to understanding how plants respond to the force of gravity, how genome structure changes in response to stress, and most recently has turned her attention to cancer biology. Her interests in biological interactions and beautiful Big Data visualizations have inspired her to create interactive installations. She has collaborated with artists and musicians in Barcelona, Paris and New York designing custom interactive visuals for their events. She currently works at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Please see elizabeth-henaff.net (http://elizabeth-henaff.net/) for more projects.