Science & Technology

DNA-Mapped Furniture Really Ties The Room Together ... With You

By Steve Mullis

Published April 2, 2013 at 1:41 PM CDT

Tjep. via Wired Magazine

The Darwin Table is created from a person's unique DNA profile.

Furnishing a new apartment or house can be tough; sometimes you just can't find that end table or couch that is uniquely "you."

Well, as Wired reports, a Dutch design studio is trying to change that.

is expected to exhibit the first line of its DNA furniture and jewelry, called "Future Nostalgia," this month in Milan, Italy. The process takes genetic profiles, maps them with 3-D imaging and constructs pieces of furniture that, quite literally, capture a person's essence.

Wired has more:

"The signature piece of the first collection of DNA furniture is the Darwin Table, which, somewhat confusingly, isn't made from Darwin's DNA, but rather that of Giulia Wolthuis, a contemporary dancer (and daughter of Eric Wolthuis). The table's 3-D design directly corresponds to its DNA mapping visual, capturing Giulia's essence through form, according to Tjepkema. The table almost seems to mimic Giulia's fluidity and motion as a dancer, with dips and curves that create a totally abstract shape. Some projects allow more artistic liberty, similar to how Tjepkema took the DNA mapping visuals and combined them with iconic symbols such as a heart and flowers for the jewelry collection.

The process to make one of their fittings starts at BaseClear Laboratories in the Netherlands, where they create a DNA profile from a sample of saliva taken with a swab. Rather than a DNA sequencing analysis, the DNA profile is similar to tests done in forensic analysis and paternity tests, creating a unique "DNA fingerprint" with 16 variable markers spread over the human genome.

Those markers are then translated by a design-mapping program created by Tjep. into a visual representation of the DNA. This DNA mapping serves as kind of a blueprint for the final project's design as Tjepkema takes the 2-D and 3-D forms of the DNA, along with his own artistic direction, and uses them to design a specific piece."

After the exhibition, Tjep. and its partners will be opened for commissioned projects, though no prices have yet been set. But, if Ikea isn't cutting it and you want a genetically inspired bed, table or desk, this is your chance.