ABSTRACT
I begin this discussion about the relationships between recent theories of genetics, complex biological systems, evolutionary computation, and generative architecture with a compelling high-tech image: a photomicrograph of a rat’s smooth muscle cell, genetically engineered to fluoresce so that its constituent parts glow vividly in red, green and blue1 (Figure 7.1). The two vertical magnifications on the right-hand side clearly show the red-stained actin filaments penetrating both the blue nucleus housing the cell’s DNA and the green extracellular matrix (ECM) outside of the cytoskeleton. Created by Drs. Rene Chapados and Peter Lloyd Jones in Philadelphia in 2005, it offers a stunning challenge—precisely because of its contextualization—to current popular conceptualizations of DNA, which still consider the molecule in isolation.
