Medicine + Technology + Art

At least at a glance, there is nothing particularly artistic about surgery or white medical coats. Yet as reviewed in lectures, both in this course and in others, there is a substantial link between the two.

Da Vinci's rendering of cardiac anatomy

A pyramidal neuron, by Ramon y Cajal

Leonardo da Vinci is famous for his art, but he was also instrumental in the West’s understanding of the human body. Working around religious restrictions, he performed as many dissections and autopsies as he could, putting his artistic abilities into use to draw diagrams of what he uncovered, such as the meninges in the brain. Similarly, Santiago Ramon y Cajal worked in the 19^th century to identify and draw out various types of neurons. Although he had wanted to be an artist as a boy, he used his artistic talents to create detailed diagrams that still appear in textbooks today.

Vesna’s lectures mentioned the Bodyworks displays, which use a process called plastination to preserve bodies or body parts by removing the water and body fat, replacing them with enduring plastics instead. Although I had only thought of these as scientific displays, they also demonstrate the inherent art of the human body – quite literally.  Eduardo Kac’s Bio Art similarly plays upon principles of biology to create art, such as the “GFP Bunny,” which uses a combination of jellyfish and rabbit genes to create a bunny that glows under blue light (GFP refers to the green fluorescent protein often used in microbiology). While I am familiar with the mechanisms of transgenics as used in biology, implementing them in an artistic format is to me both new and fascinating. In another exploration of the possibilities opened up by science, Kevin Warwick implanted chips into his arm that could link his nervous system with a computer, a process that could prove an invaluable asset to the disabled community. The chips themselves are on display.

A BRAINBOW, a new and aptly named neuroimaging technique

As a neuroscience major, I have come into contact with the blurred lines between medicine, art, and technology far more often as of late. Da Vinci and Ramon y Cajal both relied upon artistic prowess to spread their discoveries throughout the scientific community. The hippocampus, a structure of the brain involved in memory and learning, is named rather whimsically for the seahorse its structure is reminiscent of. As does much of medicine, neuroscience relies upon imaging techniques to provide sharper, clearer diagrams of the function of the brain. And these images are invariably beautiful.

Sources:

1.     Jones, Roger. “Leonardo Da Vinci: Anatomist.” The British Journal of General Practice. Royal College of General Practitioners, June 2012. Web.

2.     Bentivoglio, Marina. “Life and Discoveries of Santiago Ramon y Cajal.” Nobelprize.org, 20 April 1998. Web.

3.     Lecture

4.     Kac, Eduardo. “BIO ART.” BIO ART: Transgenic Works and Other Living Pieces. Web.

5.     Warwick, Kevin. “Achievements.” Kevin Warwick, 2000. Web.

Images:

1.     Wells, Francis. “Leonardo Da Vinci and Cardiac Anatomy.” Warwick Neurosciences Society. Web.

2.     Garcia-Lopex, Pablo, Virginia Garcia-Marin, and Miguel Freire. “The Histological Slides and Drawings of Cajal.” Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. Frontiers Research Foundation, 2010. Web.

3.     “Brainbow.” Cell Press, Cell.com. Web.