bioart

thumb|Regenerative Reliquary (2016) by American bioartist Amy Karle. Human [[stem cells were grown to form bone over a preformed hydrogel scaffold in the shape of a hand.]] Bioart is an art practice where artists work with biology, live tissues, bacteria, living organisms, and life processes. Using scientific processes and practices such as biology and life science practices, microscopy, and biotechnology (including technologies such as genetic engineering, tissue culture, and cloning) the artworks are produced in laboratories, galleries, or artists' studios. The scope of bioart is a range considered by some artists to be strictly limited to "living forms", while other artists include art that uses the imagery of contemporary medicine and biological research, or require that it address a controversy or blind spot posed by the very character of the life sciences.

Bioart originated at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century. Although bioartists work with living matter, there is some debate as to the stages at which matter can be considered to be alive or living. Creating living beings and practicing in the life sciences brings about ethical, social, and aesthetic inquiry. With his essay “Biotechnology and Art” from 1981, Peter Weibel introduced the term bioart, and defined an art movement that uses biological systems as a means of artistic expression.