:: September 2002 
Feature
Using Fibre Beyond the Fibre World
Fibreworkers most often share their creations and ideas with fellow fibre artists because they share a common interest in fibre topics and materials. Occasionally, however, fibreworkers are invited to help communicate an idea to a totally different community of readers. In this instance, CyberFibres visits the world of scientific research.
Two scientific journals have recently featured fibrework on their covers. In January, 2002, Nature Genetics displayed a knitted scarf section depicting a DNA double helix cable designed by June Oshiro (idlewild@rci.rutgers.edu) on its cover. The pattern is available at no charge from the web address:
http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/june/HelixPattern.html
Genome Research is featuring an appliqu?© quilt by CyberFibres entitled, "The Gift" on its October, 2002 journal cover. The quilt shows Greek goddess, Aphrodite Kallipygos, handing a strand of DNA with a single mutation on it (A to G) to a callipyge sheep. Kallipygos means "beautiful buttocks" in Greek, and the callipyge sheep standing next to Aphrodite shares her large bottom trait due to a mutation that occurred naturally over 20 years ago in a Dorset sheep and was first observed by a farmer. The mutation causes the sheep to produce more muscle tissue, not more fat cells.
The four sheep in the quilt represent the possible genetic crossings shown in a Punnett Square. The only breeding combination that will produce a big bottomed sheep is that of a callipyge father and a normal mother. All three other combinations (normal father and callipyge mother; callipyge father and callipyge mother; and normal father and normal mother) will result in offspring with normal sized bottoms. This departure from normal genetics is known as imprinting, and is involved in various human genetic disorders and cancers.
Most of the fibre used in "The Gift" is 100% cotton material distributed by Hancock Fabrics, Inc. with the exception of the 100% wool tufts on the sheep bottoms which came from a callipyge fleece. Aphrodite's hair is handspun camel fibre. The appliqu?© quilt can be viewed at geneimprint.com