Team:GO Paris-Saclay/Collaboration/Haiku
Synthetic poems created by iGEMers
Our project “DNA-free POETential” consisted in creating and functionalizing DNA-less cells. Our results open interesting avenues in developing new kinds of synthetic organisms devoid of DNA. These possibilities, both exciting and unsettling in a world where DNA is a synonym for identity, were the object of an artistic exchange with scientists and non-scientists, under the form of Japanese-style poems called Haikus.
Haikus are Japanese poems composed of only 3 sentences of 5 / 7 / 5 syllables, respectively. They classically reflect the fleeting beauty of Life, expressing ephemeral but strong feelings. Since the chassis of our project is a DNA-less cell with a shortened life span, we decided to produce haikus to illustrate our experiments.
For this artistic exchange, we invited iGEMers to write haikus (in all languages) about the fate of a DNA-less cell, or any idea related to synthetic biology. Here’s the link for more information and also for sending your incredible haikus to us:
Click Here
Several iGEM teams felt inspired and created the following Haikus after discovering our project. We are grateful for their creativity. Don’t hesitate to also check their projects out!
"UTEX 4 da win
der wächst so schnell wie Hefe
beschte wo gibt lan
Our beloved UTEX
Growing faster and faster
Than all the others
What is life for us?
Is it just the DNA?
Or also the shell?"
"The synthetic cell
Risen from fantasy, forged
Into existence
Gone, my DNA
So when my shift is over
I am no longer"
"Never thought that I
with this ''empty'' space inside
could transform any life.. "
"Math never lies
Suggests i keep evolving
As the time flies"
"Κοίτα μέσα μου
Όλο κάτι μου λείπει
Δώσε μου ζωή "
"Hold on to my code
Upload , Backed up and Decode
Complexity to behold"
"Un jour la brise
Le second s’éclaire car…
La lune se réveille"
"Er is niks over,
Ik vertrek om de schaduw achter mij te laten
Ben onder de indruk van de verschuiving"
"Geen DNA geen probleem,
syntetisch leven, ben je echt?
je bent wat je creert"
"Little RNA,
Barely born you disapper…
As snow in the sun"
Synthetic poems created other people (non–iGEMers)
Our project was presented during a poster session at the annual Colloquium of the French network Phages.fr that was held in Grenoble (France) on 8-9 November 2019.
"Lonely cells are
Abandonned genes that glare
In dishes billions stars"
"Phage- Protein umhüllt
Bakterie - so unerfüllt
Leben wir gemeinsam?"
"Oh Phage- I'm without life!
Offer me the treasures
Hidden in your protein shell"
"Memory is lost
Ribocell's not a ghost
Just a Great Old One"
"Petite bactérie
La nucléase t'a bouffée
C'est tant pis pour toi"
"Une vie sans génome
On croit que c'est difficile
Mais ce n'en est rien!"
"Without a genome
You just have RNA phage,
It sucks to be you ;)"
"No DNA Tic tac toe
Only RNA instead of the foe.
Restart life, let's go!"
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● Thanks to all of you for contributing to our project ●
Discover all our original haikus on the philosophical iGAME page! https://2019.igem.org/wiki/index.php?title=Team:GO_Paris-Saclay/HP/iGame
