Vincent’s Ear
With DNA from Vincent Van Gogh’s great, great nephew, a Dutch artist, collaborating with scientists at Harvard and MIT, grew a living replica of the artist’s ear. The original was either lopped off in self-mutilation, or lost to sword during an argument with Paul Gauguin shortly before Christmas in 1888. In growing the reproduction the artist “figured out the shape of the ear by looking at a historical photo of the artist, and extrapolated the measurements to create a 3D-printed mold that approximated its shape. A scaffold placed in the mold was seeded with Van Gogh’s cells, which grew until the ear reached its final form.” The piece is kept alive in a special chamber that simulates a human body, making this one of the odder examples of regenerative medicine and a cross over between art and science. MORE
Image Credit: Diemut Strebe and GizMag.com