The King may be dead , but his memory board lives on in the form of a genetically engineered computer mouse create by Royal College of Art alumnus student , Koby Barhad . The “ genetically clone model ” of the former rock legend is part of an art project call , All That I Am — an endeavor to explore a number of philosophical and honorable issues .
Incredibly , Barhad used three on-line services to do his nontextual matter . He acquired Elvis Presley ’s tomentum sample off of eBay ( who knew ? ) and sent the sample to a gene sequence lab where technician were able to identify various behavioural trait — including such factors as sociability , athletic performance , obesity , and addiction . By using this data , Barhad then commissioned the product of transgenic shiner dead ringer which had these parallel traits .
But there ’s more to Barhad ’s experimentation . By placing the mouse in specialized environs , he attempted to simulate the various biographic circumstances of Elvis ’s life .
So , for exercise , for replicate the conditions of his puerility , Bargad produce a box for the Elvis - mouse that contained a fellow female parent ( to mime “ his mother ’s influence and special office she had in his life ” ) and a dark , frigid sphere ( to comprise the poverty Elvis sense when growing up in Tupelo ) .
Barhad also worked to “ condition ” talent into the mouse with a serial of solid food reinforcement trigger . And to mimic the tragical conclusion of his life , Barhad placed a malformed mirror inside the cage ( representing Elvis ’s amour propre and overdone self - image ) , and a treadmill that led to a sudden drop - off ( symbolize his death ) .
Wired.co.uk ’s Ian Steadmanrecently interviewedBarhad about his project :
Why Elvis ? Why mice ?
I started the task with procuring tomentum of Elvis , Princes Diana and JFK — all are cultural heroes that become flat before their time . That way they were made a myth , glorified to the item where they became a utopian model . From these three , Elvis is the ultimate symbolization of the amount of ( sometime ridiculous ) effort we put , as a society , in keeping those models alive .
As for the mouse — in the last two centuries the black eye has been used as a human model in scientific discipline . As a scientific symbol for man . obviously we have an sinful telephone number of identical genes that make it perfect for test ourselves . From psychology to physiology it was always examine on mouse first .
What was the inspiration for combining the elements of this experimentation — the mouse testing equipment , the Elvis hair and on-line genetical services ?
I ’ve always been fascinated with world ’s eternal penury to quantify and define life . Be it biological science or physics , philosophical system or life , psychology or fabrication — from Frankenstein to the “ god particle ” . In my inquiry I came across a individual science lab Robert William Service that offers “ mouse ” that are “ genetically modified for your needs ” . From that point I was just enquire whose behavioral mice manikin I would care to plan . That , of course , led me to eBay , the DNA sequencing research laboratory and to historical and modern-day behaviouristic science .
Would you argue that you have the rightfulness to employ an individual ’s DNA for cloning ( of a sort ) just because you ’ve got one of his hairs ?
I wo n’t indicate that , as I ’m not an expert in constabulary and ethics . Instead , I ’m raising those questions so that we , as the general public , would get a better understanding of the issues that we ’ll soon have to handle with .
Be certain to check out Steadman’sentire audience .
Top image via Wired.co.uk . Inset image via Koby Barhad
BiologyGeneticsScience
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