The installation - Origins and Futures IV
, 2004, brings together objects from the natural world in counter-position with manufactured artefacts. On one side there are blocks of pyrite, a mineral commonly called "fool's gold" for its shine and colour similar to gold. On the other there are small sculptures of embryos, produced in a computer software and 3D printed. This piece by Suzanne Anker focuses on the origin of life on Earth and the Cairns-Smith's theory of early RNA. RNA (ribonucleic acid) is one of the macromolecules essential for life alongside DNA. According to this theory, life on our planet was originated through a process of "genetic acquisition" of crystals that allowed RNA to learn the process of duplicating itself by taking on the crystalline structure of a mineral, of which pyrite is an example.

Although embryos and minerals may be linked by genetic inheritance at the origin of life on Earth, their connection is distant. On the other hand, genes and their sequences are being patented by companies, although such materials have never before been listed as intellectual property, turning animal life into a commodity to be traded. The American artist, a pioneer of Bio-Art, reveals bioethical questions that emerge in the manipulation of living forms. Could these molecular entities be traded as financial instruments? After all, much financial speculation is based on investments in certain future scenarios, and even human genes may come to be considered a form of 'bio-mineral' to be exploited and perhaps marketed.

DC