Living networks exist on many scales – from microscopic to global. Something common to all of them is a need to communicate information from one part of the system to another. This could involve moving a protein to a new location inside a cell, or an infection spreading through the population of an island.

Genetics is the language in which all biological communication is written. It is a chemical system, but its signals are silent. These signals are fundamental to how our bodies operate and how they adapt to fight disease. New technologies make it possible to listen to more of these signals, and biomedical scientists are steadily decoding this organic language. By becoming fluent in these signals, researchers can develop new ways to fight disease and improve global health.

The Silent Signal biomedical scientists are each following different signals. They each use specialised machines and tools and their labs vary from digital models, tiny dishes in incubators to whole ecosystems and communities. Their approaches are as diverse as the signals they are chasing.

The animated artworks raise questions about what our genetic code is, how our immune system functions, how disease is spread, and what the future applications and impact of the research into these areas might be for us all.

Each work is the result of a close collaboration between an artist and a scientist, to produce an artistic response to scientific research across genetics, cell biology, immunology and epidemiology.