RED SILK OF FATE – TAMAKI’S CRUSH (2016)

© Sputniko!   Courtesy of the artist

 

Red String of Fate is an East Asian mythology in which gods tie an invisible red string between those that are destined to be together. Sputniko! has collaborated with scientists from NIAS in engineering silkworms genetically to spin this mythical 'Red String of Fate' by inserting genes that produce oxytocin, a social-bonding 'love' hormone, and the genes of a red-glowing coral into silkworm eggs (photograph of the actual oxytocin-induced red silk, developed in 2015, on the right). Science has long challenged and demystified the world of mythologies - from Galileo's belief that the earth revolved around the sun to Darwin's theory of evolution and beyond - but in the near future, could science be recreating our mythologies?

 

The film Red Silk of Fate - Tamaki's Crush unravels a story around the protagonist Tamaki, an aspiring genetic engineer, who engineers her own "Red Silk of Fate" in the hope of winning the heart of her crush, Sachihiko. She sews the "Red Silk of Fate" into her favorite scarf in order to win the love of her dreams, but strange, mythical powers start to inhabit her creation....

 

Special Thanks to:

NIAS (National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences) Transgenic Silkworm Unit

Hideki Sezutsu - Technical Advisor

Ken-ichiro Tatematsu - Development of Red Silk of Fate

Sayaka Kobayashi - Egg production of transgenic silkworms

Keiro Uchino - DNA injection into silkworm eggs

Tetsuya Iizuka - Breeding of transgenic silkworms

Toshihiko Misawa and Kaoru Nakamura - Rearing of transgenic silkworms

Kaoru Nakamura - Rearing of transgenic silkworms

Shuichiro Tomita - Practical silk production

Kenichi Nakajima - Production of raw silks

Eiichi kobayashi- Public Relations