Between Dec. 2017 and Jan. 2018, I was artist-in-residence at SymbioticA, University of Western Australia, Perth. During my time there, I was introduced to some basic protocols in tissue culture practices.

 

I experimented with decellularization of bee cells with both the pupa and the adult bee. I was interested in the process of cell washing, and also how that would work with insect exoskeleton. While the decellularization worked very well with the softer pupa, the adult bee's exoskeleton did not change visibly during my observation. 

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I also cultured some basic mammalian cells from lab stock, jot understand the basic tissue culture process. After the bee pupa completed decellularization, I submerged the remaining "skin" into the mammalian tissue culture, to see if it would recellularize onto the scaffold of the pupa.

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the final result of this experiment.