gene(rative) art

Genes are the original memes. In this collection, I wanted to explore the idea that genes, like memes, represent an abstract packet of information that can be transmitted through a population.

The gene(rative) collection is a generative art project where each human gene is depicted as a barcode, the quintessential symbol that uniqueness.

Each element of the barcode encodes specific information. The first number is the chromosome where the gene is located. The gene name follows and is filled with 0x and then a string of randomly generated numbers. The bars of the bar code are established positions of chromosome banding patterns. The gray bar is the location of the centromere between p- and q-arms and the red bar is the location of the gene. Here's a library of the 6 'most popular' genes.

I originally shared this work as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain as an experiment in combining science and generative art. In a playful nod to natural selection, each gene's rarity in the collection was tied to its publication count — the more studied the gene, the more 'pressure' on it.

The collection started with some of the most researched and published genes.

The gene(rative) project remains one of my favorite experiments in using code to make the invisible structures of biology visible.