I have recently been looking at the ‘artificial’ environment mankind has created and what impacts and opportunities this new surrounding could invoke.

One idea I have been working is how biology could adopt manmade infrastructure. I have been working in collaboration with Steffen Fiedler and James Field a synthetic biology master student at Imperial College London

We have been looking at the electrical power grid and how the grid could also power biological processes. We were questioning whether cells could use electromagnetic fields instead of photosynthesis or digestion to power cellular processes.

James is working towards incorporating magnetic crystals in bacteria using synthetic biology.  These crystals could potentially be used to harness the fluctuating magnetic fields to produce ATP through heat transfer or other means.

This ATP or glucose could then be used to power cell processes like mitosis and metabolism. These electromagnetic cells could be used in a symbiotic relation with other cells to form a functioning organism.

We speculated what these organisms could be used for in the future and how these uses may affect society.

Here is a speculative timeline:

• 2020 – Electromagnetic bacteria are initially used in hospital air-conditioning units to provide nourishment for bacteria that remove pathogens from the air. The bacteria can live purely from the electrical power of the air-conditioning unit, the condensed water and additional particles that are left from the consumed pathogens.
  

  hospital air-conditioning

• 2028 – These electromagnetic bacteria start to make there way into household devices: TVs, fridges, vacuum cleaners, power showers, electric blankets and even lights.
  

  Household devices

• 2050 – The first organism has been genetically modified to live of the electromagnetic bacteria in a symbiotic relationship. It is a potato plant, but it dose not require any leaves.
  
  

  Electromagnetic potato plant

• 2070 – Out of season and exotic plants can be grown by enthusiasts in there own home.
  

  Out of season and exotic plants

• 2130 – The first underground farm is opened; it is directly under a city so the transportation costs are slashed. The nutrients are supplied by household waste and sewage.
  

  Underground farm

• 2135 – More Power stations are needed to power underground farms and other electromagnetic bacterial processes.

Dissertation  Idea:

We have evolved through different environments; initially we were water based organisms then adapted to living on land, all the way up to the most recent socially interacting human we have now become.

But we have not evolved for one ‘set’ environment, the environment has been changing and we have ‘adapted’ to survive within it. As we have adapted to these environments we have developed ways of surviving, whether this is the opposable thumb or a basic nervous system. But the evolution process doesn’t ‘restart’ for each change in the environment, it builds on what has already evolved. This means that we have been left a legacy of old and possibly redundant adaptations, but what is worse is that because our environment is changing so fast at present (due to us) there is a increasing gap between our environment and our ability to naturally adapt to it.

For example problems we already know about include our innate desire for high energy, salty foods, but because these are plentiful now this desire is causing obesity and heart problems.

What problems are likely to arise due to the information age? What innate needs do we have that are now completely saturated? And how would ‘we’ have evolved to best suit this current environment?

As a designer working with technology today, what concerns me is how to bridge this gap between the environment and our society. The question of what can be done by designers to make future generations fit for the current environment rather than just fulfilling innate desires is one I intend to examine.