Microbial prospecting workshop with Melissa Grant
October 8, 2021
10-16h at SOLU Space

This is an introductory workshop and no previous knowledge is required. 
Everything will be provided at the workshop and participation is for free.

Registration via email with short statement of motivation.

Making invisible microbes visible and trying to identify them has been a pastime of the curious for many centuries. Some of the scientific methods used have seemed out of reach for the at home biologist, however, advances in DIY biology equipment and sharing of knowledge now mean that almost anyone can grow and potentially identify microbes with a few pieces of equipment.

In this workshop biochemist and microbial prospector Melissa Grant will demonstrate how to make your own agar dishes, explore the implications of growing microbes, and demonstrate how to identify microbes by colony PCR using the mobile lab device from Bento lab.

Grant is a biochemist with a deep interest in the reciprocal influences of arts & sciences. She is a current researcher at the University of Birmingham, curator of the Open Wide project in the Birmingham Dental Hospital and fellow at Birmingham Open Media. She has been part of the High Altitude Bioprospecting (HAB) team, with Oliver de Peyer, since its conception in 2008. HAB are particularly interested in discovery of micro-organisms in extreme environments, such as the stratosphere.  

The workshop is happenig in conjunction with the exhibtion Atmospheric Encounters opening on October 7th.

The workshop is part of BioFacts - a programme that consists of a series of artistic research work labs. The programme introduces fundamental techniques of working with biological arts and serves as a vehicle to discuss art and science, materials, techniques, safety and policy, biopolitics, ethics as well as artistic examples through hands-on work. 
BioFacts is supported by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.

Image by Hannah Imlach from Field_Notes 2019