I have a real pleasure in growing plants watching them grow, seeing which plants i can grow from collected samples. I used this personal interest to navigate BioHacking.

I began the project by following a simple protocol found on a STEM website. I did have the fear of not knowing what i was doing but realised i needed to start somewhere. The experiment turned out effective but i was too hasty to throw some samples away, as the ones i were unsure about ended up growing! I started to experiment with different variables and environments - adding coconut water , liquid fertiliser. I also explored taking samples from different plants and tissue from different parts and tried seeds too.

As part of my BioHack navigation challenge i decide to build an incubator. It had specific specs :

• flat pack to travel
• cost less than €100 to make
• temperature controllable
• modular and adjustable to be used for plants, mycelium and bacteria I feel this was my biggest challenge. As a trained designer i wanted it to be perfect first time round, but after some discussions I realised this was just version I so didn’t need to spend too much time making it look pretty. The electronics part was difficult but a really great way for me to get a basic understanding of using Arduino for a project.

During the plant tissue culture experiments I realised that i needed a way to measure success and that was through GROWTH. Being able to transfer the specimen into larger growth chambers and seeing new roots felt like a success. BUT how can one measure failure when you have no idea what the outcome will be? One major thing that was happening was mould. I was on constant mould watch and became interested in the different moulds that resulted in the different media vrs plant samples.

I achieved a lot more then i expected in 10 weeks. I found a great way to help navigate through biohacking and got a good taste of lab life. I hope to continue my exploration of old and new passions through collaborations, residencies and workshops.

I came in a critical designer who liked biology and i’m leaving a biohacker