In this week’s Under the covers (Nature revealed) blog, Nature’s Art Director Kelly Krause discusses the inspiration behind this week’s front cover choice on the future of synthetic biology.
Caption:
In little more than a decade synthetic biology — building on the foundations of genetic engineering — has developed into a multifaceted field with exciting and sometimes controversial potential. Tools now being developed enable the redesign of existing, natural biological systems to perform specific tasks, and the design and construction of new biological systems with capabilities beyond those achieved in the natural world.
A package of reports and commentaries in this week’s Nature— coordinated with articles in Nature Methods and Nature Reviews Microbiology — surveys the current state of synthetic biology and speculates on what startling advances we can expect to see in the near future. Cover: Thomas Porostocky.
Building the future of synthetic biology.
From the Art Desk:
Art Director, Kelly Krause, explains:
“This week’s issue features a special on synthetic biology. A recurring theme in the issue is how the two pillars of the field, engineering and biology, co-exist together. As such, we wanted a cover that visually conveyed this message.
“We decided that something that shows a cell dividing, with ‘engineering’ represented on one side and ‘evolutionary biology’ on the other would be an engaging visual, and broad enough to work with the theme of the special. We gave this brief to illustrator Thomas Porostocky, who put his fantastically bold, abstract, graphic style to good use. The blue cubes are meant to give the feel of something particularly ordered and designed, while the pink side is more fluid and organic.
“Why did we go for something so abstract? Because synthetic biology is notoriously difficult to visualise. In fact, we did a feature about it in 2010 entitled ‘Five hard truths for synthetic biology.’
For additional behind the scenes commentary each week, check out Nature Graphics Tumblr and the previous Under the Covers on the evolution of the Y Chromosome.