apparatus hack + the materiality of the lab

exhibit a.

The first image here shows one of the first experiments (and new processes I learned) at the Pelling Lab - one of many laboratory hacks that Pelling Lab members have developed. 

This is a live cell imaging hack, meaning a less sophisticated but equally effective way of capturing time lapse video of live cells in culture, doing their thing (mainly mitosis, or cell division, leading to the growth of the culture).

What you see in this image (exhibit a.) is one part of the hacked apparatus. Typically, imaging live cells requires very specialized equipment, including a high end microscope with a digital camera built in, within a compartment that regulates temperature and CO2 in order to keep the cells alive (essentially, an incubator). While I was working in the labs at the University of Western Australia, specifically CELLCentral with Guy Ben-Ary to image my live cell cultures, we used this specialized, very expensive instrument. At the Pelling Lab, however, value is placed on DIY technique, innovation and making science more accessible, so there is a roughly built but functional live cell imaging apparatus (see exhibit b. below). 

exhibit b.

First, one must prepare the cells for their long overnight journey in the imaging unit. Exhibit a. shows this very messy preparation: two small petri dishes containing live cells are turned into hermetically-sealed containers in order to capture enough CO2 to sustain the specific pH required to stabilize cellular 'life'. This is because the imaging unit (exhibit b.), while set up to maintain body temperature for the cells, cannot regulate CO2. The dishes are sealed by applying a thick, gooey layer of vacuum grease to the entire inside edge of the lid of the dish, before the lid is then smushed on and the cells are sealed in. This process is of course done inside a sterile laminar flow hood to prevent contamination. My messiness with this process was exceptional. The sterility of the vacuum grease is, well, virtually nonexistent. I worried for my cells - that they would quickly become contaminated or at least poisoned. Neither of those things happened. 

Before the lids can be greased and smushed on, however, they must be prepared as well. Small holes were hand-drilled into the plastic lids by rotating the tip of an Exacto knife against the lid until a circle is cut about the size of a pencil eraser (or a bit smaller). Then the lid is cleaned with 70% ethanol and all plastic debris wiped away with Kimwipes, "delicate task wipers". Again, so messy. You'd think these cells wouldn't stand a chance. Alas! Once the holes are drilled, the lid cleaned, the cells plated (pipetted into the dish bottom), the vacuum grease applied, and the lid smushed on, then the dishes are incubated for 5-10 minutes to allow the inside of the dish to fill with CO2 from the incubator. After this period in the incubator, the dishes are removed and aluminum foil tape is applied to one hole to seal it, before putting the dishes back in the incubator for another few minutes. Then, out they come and the second hole is likewise sealed with aluminum foil tape. Why aluminum foil tape? Well, for one, it's silver and looks futuristic, and it's quite malleable. I'm not sure why else that tape is used specifically. What you see in the image, exhibit a., is only one hole sealed before the second trip into the incubator.

The resulting videos that I went in to see the next morning were fairly exciting. The cell types are 3T3s (connective tissue cells), and they were quite active overnight. I observed the individual cells of course dividing, but also I witnessed them using their cytoplasm as a vehicle, to flatten and extend their cell bodies out to pull themselves along the surface of the dish (cell motility). A great first experiment. I will post video once I've gotten it off the lab's hard drive. For now, this is the image (exhibit c.) on one of the screens when the experiment first began (there are actually two handbuilt imaging units, hence the two dishes and two videos I was able to capture). 

exhibit c.

I have to thank my trusty friend and fellow BioArtist, Tristan Matheson for showing me this whole trick. Tristan and I will be showing together at the FOFA Gallery this coming November, and he was the first artist to take up residence at the Pelling Lab for developing his own work last year.

The next experiment I managed to do on my last visit to the lab was to introduce an old and somewhat obsolete art material to the lab as a feasible (and much cheaper) material for use in cell culturing. Tissue engineering, the creation of new forms of constructing a piece of viable flesh and/or bone, requires attempting to reproduce the conditions in which tissue grows in, in vivo, or in a body. Of course, it is nothing like a body, but certain elements are added to a culture dish (such as chemicals, antibiotics, serum, etc) that recreate a system of feeding, protecting and communicating behavioral suggestions to the cells. Certain elements are also added to the scaffolds that the cells grow on, such as parts of the extracellular matrix. For my entire project, my scaffolds are textile-related - miniature hand-weavings, crocheted forms, and miniature textile-based tools (see exhibit d.). 

exhibit d. - a 3D printed miniature frame loom, printed on a MakerBot at the Pelling Lab for me by Daniel Modulesky.

Sometimes coating agents are added to scaffolds (or even dishes themselves) to assist the cells in adhering to the forms and colonizing. One of those substances is collagen, a sticky, elastic substance that is extracted -usually- from rat tails. Most researchers don't do this themselves, but simply order liquid collagen from a lab supplier. One exception, however is artist Boo Chapple, who went through the process of extracting it herself. My method is infinitely simpler, though Chapple's work was of course concerned with animal use in the laboratory research process, where "rats have become abstracted from their animal being and reconstituted as a research tool" and thus one could argue, imperative for her to get her hands wet in order to fully appreciate the impact of the technique. 

My discovery of an old-school art material that is purified collagen was an intuitive discovery, which I really can't explain. It just happened. The material: rabbit skin glue (exhibit e.). Traditionally, rabbit skin glue has been used as a sizing for canvas, before applying oil paint to tighten the canvas and protect it. I researched the glue and discovered its potential for lab use. This was part of the research that I did at SymbioticA, though I didn't have enough time to fully explore its properties and potential--so, I picked up this research at Pelling Lab just now. 

exhibit e. soaked pellets of rabbit skin glue, in a beaker on a hot plate

Rabbit skin glue comes in crystallized pellet form. I prepared it in the lab in exactly the same way one would prepare it as canvas sizing - soak it in water at a ratio of 10:1 water to pellets, overnight till the pellets soften and expand (I used purified water and kept it in the lab fridge overnight). Then heat and stir until it completely liquifies. One of my new friends at the Pelling Lab, Daniel Modulesky, brought it to my attention that the heating process in mixing the glue will also serve to sterilize it. So, heat at 70˚C for 30 minutes, and not only do you have liquid collagen to use, but it is also sterile. Purchasing rabbit skin glue is infinitely more economical than purchasing lab grade liquid collagen.

Rabbit skin glue preparation for use in tissue culture at the Pelling Lab.

Once the collagen was prepared, I coated one side of a glass petri dish with it, and incubated it to bring it to the right temperature for cells. Then I used a pipette to suction out some of the excess fluid before I plated 3T3s onto it. I was met with some skepticism from one of my biologist friends but my goal was simply to see if the collagen would a) act as a coating agent and cause cells to stick to it, and b) prove to not be cytotoxic. I plated the cells, put the dish in the incubator and left Ottawa to return to Montreal after my friend promised to report back to me on what exactly happened in the dish after 48 hours. The cells could all be dead by then, or maybe nothing would happen at all. 

My experiment was a success! Not only did the rabbit skin glue NOT kill the cells within the 48 hours, but they did appear to adhere to it, growing in a strange pattern on the dish that my biologist friend didn't understand. The pattern? It was simply lines that were created in the thin collagen layer when I sucked out excess fluid with a skinny pipette tip. Essentially I left a drawing in the collagen with the pipette, and the cells grew in the pattern of the drawing. More experiments will follow, to test longer-term exposure to the material and its effect on the cells, as well as doing comparative experiments to really prove that the cells prefer to stick to it. Those experiments may fail, BUT so many laboratory experiments fail miserably, that each small success feels huge. If my following experiments prove successful as well, then I'll use this collagen to coat my weavings to help the cells stick more thickly to them, and better/faster grow tissue on them. My next weaving material will be some beautiful horse hair (exhibit f.) that Andrew Pelling brought for me from his violin-maker wife (thank you - I don't know your name yet). I think the white horse hair will be stunning on the black 3D printed looms, and maybe, just maybe, with a little help from my rabbit skin glue, tissue will grow on it. 

exhibit f.

Another current research experiment on the go, but from home, is an attempt at sericulture. I've got pretty unruly silkworms crawling in a box at home, and periodically escaping it. Living with and overcoming my revulsion towards these fat silk moth larvae is part of my wanting to have a deeper relationship with the materials that I use in creating my artworks. Many of my weavings for tissue culture have been and will continue to be with silk, because silk contains natural indicators for osteoblasts (essentially, silk fibroin communicates with bone builder cells to tell them to build, build, build) - kind of miraculous. Silk is just newly being used in bone grafts for this very reason. I'll use it for my bone sculpture purposes. So, for now, I'm hanging out with a horde of silkworms, feeding and trying hard to keep them alive, so that I can experience the process of silk production from the source (see exhibit g.). 

exhibit g. silkworm in my kitchen - and a very ancient, wise looking one at that

Living with these creatures allows me to cultivate some appreciation for the nonhuman agents that contribute to my work. They will eventually spin cocoons, metamorphose, and chew their way out as moths, to lay eggs and quickly die as per their usual life cycle. They are completely domesticated and cannot live in the wild, living entirely in service to the human textile industry. I have been keeping them on my kitchen table and I have to admit, it stifles the appetite. Silkworms, however, have a voracious appetite and feed nonstop, like any larvae. They are extremely delicate creatures, susceptible to contamination from mold, and die easily if any moisture or bacteria come into contact with their bodies (even from human hands). In this way, they remind me very much of cells in culture - they can only eat one particular food (mulberry leaves), must be kept in a bacteria-free environment and can only really be handled with very clean or gloved hands. I'm growing emotionally attached to them and have begun to talk to them, despite my lingering revulsion.

Finally, also on the go is DIY electronics. I'm building my own incubator for mammalian tissue culture, following this prototype developed by Andrew Pelling during his residency at SymbioticA. I'm planning to bling up his design, to include an audio output, pulsing LEDs and even a cellular shield to live tweet readings from the CO2 sensor. That's a lot of work, but I have all of the electronic components and am learning basic Arduino skills at Eastern Bloc. Plus, I have Andrew as a resource during my residency at the Pelling Lab, to help me see this project build through.

The audio shield for Arduino, which will play electrochemical noise that I'm recording, from the incubator.