Biojewellry - Designing Rings with Bioengineered Bone Tissue

This i exactly what it says it is... a science project by design students that is creating jewellry made from bone cells harvested from you... the doaner and then grown in a petrie dish until the piece is finished


Focussing on advances in tissue engineering, our project began with an investigation of implantable technologies: we discovered that scientists were not only using metals and bioplastics to repair damaged bone tissue but developing a method of growing actual bone outside the body to transplant into patients. Our intention was to create an object that would allow these technologies to be considered in relation to a familiar experience. Could design be used to construct an open-ended and provocative statement, in contrast to narratives found in the media which focused on threatening or fantastic representations of the technology?

We were fortunate to strike up a partnership with Dr Ian Thompson, who worked in the Department of Materials at Imperial College. Headed by Professor Larry Hench, the department developed the first generation of bioceramic material in 1969. With their support we were able to start thinking about a collaborative, public communication project.

By situating bone tissue engineering within the framework of a relationship between two people, the Biojewellery project aims to create public dialogue with emphasis on communication and the accessibility of the scientific processes involved.

We aim to document the couple, using interviews to give an impression of their motives, create time-lapse film of the donated cells as the tissue develops and record the making of the rings in the studio. By showing bioengineering processes in this way we hope to encourage ethical debate, and raise critical, constructive questions over how advancements in science relate to our identities and desires.