An exo-life may not come from outer space hiting the Earth riding a meteorite but very well from the lab, designed by a scientist —unless it is an artist— weaving biology and computing in a petri dish or a bioreactor as a vessel.

With biotechnologies, synthetic biology and Artificial Life, artists have opened new avenues in the artworld, going from still to autonomous objects to living creatures, exploring the thin border between animate and inanimate, confronting the grown, the evolved, the born and the built, raising aesthetical but also social, political and ethical issues.

In this ground breaking collection, the editors have commission new original essays by key figures in these fields and collected over 40 articles previously published in the Leonardo Journal that document the ideas and practice of artists involved in these areas as well as theoreticians and historians.

Chapters include: Between Bio, Silico and Synthetic: Of Life and Arts; Artificial Life and the Arts; Bioart; Bio-Fiction, Design, Architecture; DIY Biology-Biohacking (see below for full Table of Contents).