Are biotechnology and bioengineering too powerful to be left in the hands of business and government alone? Should artists should be able to use them too, asks Randy Kennedy in a thorough N.Y. Times story (7/3/05) on the new field of bioart. Art experiments with bacteria and genetically altered plants and animals have caused a disturbing reaction among government agencies and university ethics committees, especially when artists use their work to challenge the power government and business hold over science. Some scientists fear the fuss could have a chilling effect on collaborative research. But activist artists like Critical Art Ensemble complain that bioart divorcing itself from political questions is just another curio in the cultural world's "market for novelty." [LINK] Posted by Linda Frye Burnham