GLYPHOSATE BONDING(2020) BY EUN SUN CHO

There is a matter that makes up about 90 percent of the universe, which we have no idea about. The invisible substance called dark matter is supposed to interact with visible matter via gravity. In our daily life, transparent and odorless yet affecting the food chain, health system, and circulation of nature without knowledge of the interaction, the pesticide is a daily dark matter-like substance. Among the various kinds of pesticides, Glyphosate is situated in a unique position. For years Glyphosate was only used in small amounts as a so-called chelating agent - a molecule that binds to metals, for which the Stauffer Chemical Company was granted a patent in 1964. Glyphosate, for example, has been used as a decalcifying agent to remove mineral deposits in hot water systems pipes, making the metal water-soluble and easy to remove. It was not until the early 1970s that Monsanto chemist John Franz discovered the herbicidal effects of Glyphosate. In 1974 Monsanto launched Glyphosate as a herbicide under the brand name "Roundup," and it has started to spread in large quantities worldwide. 

The basic principle of Glyphosate as a herbicide is based on inhibiting the shikimate pathway. The shikimate pathway is a seven-step metabolic pathway used by plants for the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids. Through the binding of manganese, an essential part of the enzyme, and Glyphosate, the shikimate path is inhibited, and the plants are dead immediately. 

For the first part of the Project, "Glyphosate Bonding - Shikimate pathway part one(chelator)",  the mixture of various seeds and animal glue is formed irregularly. Here, seeds represent strong vessels of nature and blueprints for life. Animal glue, mainly obtained from cattle, is created by the chemical reaction of so-called structural proteins collagen. Animal glue becomes the carrier of the seeds and the "building block" for building the body. Seven of them, which represent a symbolic Shikimate pathway while imitating life itself, are cut through metal-Glyphosate binding, which explains the inhibition of the Shikimate pathway.

The second part, "Glyphosate Bonding -Shikimate pathway part two(engineered pathway)", deals with Gmo and revisioned Shikimate pathway. Since Glyphosate is a non-selective pesticide, this gave rise to the idea of developing plants that are resistant to Glyphosate. The Agrobacterium strain called CP4, which survived in a garbage-fed column at a Glyphosate manufacturing facility, turned out resistant to Glyphosate. The cloned and transfected CP4-EPSPS gene revises and engineers the Shikimate pathway. Inspired by that, "Shikimate pathway part two(engineered pathway)" shows a hand-drawn reconstructed pathway of a genetically modified organism. Unlike the first part, animal glue is mixed with transparent and synthetic acrylic glass to symbolize genetically modified seeds. Petri-dish-form evokes the idea that genetically modified organisms are a laboratory invention. 

The third part of the work, "Glyphosate Bonding - Circulation of the genetically modified organism and Glyphosate," works on the interdependent bonding and cycle between GMOs and Glyphosate. It illustrates the cell culture of genetically modified and non-genetically modified organisms in Glyphosate. Genetically modified cells are actively circulated by binding to Glyphosate, while non-genetically modified cells are destroyed in the Glyphosate pool, which is selected to cut the round part. 

In all the three parts of the work,  measuring and testing the appropriate dose of Glyphosate(based on recent research into the amount of Glyphosate in the diet, whose dose is somewhere between the Glyphosate level in beer and the allowance for Glyphosate in oats in the United States), a small dose of Roundup is applied to the final works. On the other hand, in the black part of the works, three different black chemical representations of Glyphosate are written to evoke the idea of invisibility of Glyphosate, whereas, on the perspective change, it shows its figurative existence. In this sense, our daily dark matter Glyphosate stays invisible and simultaneously visible.