Sputniko!, Red Silk of Fate - Tamaki's Crush, 2016.
Red Silk of Fate - Tamaki's Crush centres around a young aspiring bioengineer who recreates the Red Silk of Fate from East Asian mythology. In collaboration with NIAS, silkworms were genetically engineered to produce red-glowing, oxytocin-laden silk.
Red String of Fate is an East Asian mythology in which gods tie an invisible red string between those destined to be together. Sputniko! collaborated with scientists from NIAS to genetically engineer silkworms to spin this mythical thread by inserting genes that produce oxytocin, a social-bonding hormone, and the genes of red-glowing coral into silkworm eggs. The film follows Tamaki, an aspiring genetic engineer, who engineers her own Red Silk of Fate in the hopes of winning the heart of her crush, Sachihiko — but strange, mythical powers start to inhabit her creation.
Science has long challenged and demystified mythologies; in the near future, could science be recreating them?
Source: Sputniko! · MIT Media Lab