FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

Technologically Modified Plants To Prevent Wolves From Contracting Rabies

London studio Cohen Van Balen designed prototype structures to genetically enhance natural habitats.

Stealing the show at this year's Lisbon Architecture Triennale were a series of prototypical structures by London studio Cohen Van Balen, designed to sustain genetically modified plants that could prevent wolves from contracting rabies.

Dubbed Nowhere a Shadow, the structures were installed in the faux woodland district of Future Perfect, a fascinating sub-exhibition of a sci-fi city that’s become a major attraction for the Triennale.

Advertisement

"We were inspired by the idea of symbiosis, the relationships between plants and animals, and the beautifully complex systems in nature where an animal and a plant keep each other alive," says Cohen.

"We wanted to design a plant to keep a wolf alive from extinction."

How it works is the metal structures feed biologically engineered nutrients to the blueberry plants, while metal prongs at the base attract the wolves as they meander, encouraging them to stop and eat the fruits.

"Wolves in the wild can only touch each other at one point," Tuur Van Balen explained. "As a human being, you can grab the wolf at two points. So we added these massagers that touch the animal at two points and the wolves really like it."

While we sit and think about that for a moment, the next aspect makes a little more sense:

The movement of the wolves then generates electricity for the devices, powering surveillance cameras that stream footage of the animals across the internet (see below).

"Maybe a way for the animal to keep itself from extinction is to become a form of entertainment," said Cohen. "If there were cameras in the forest, maybe there would be people willing to watch and pay to watch it."

Though we’re not sure if this is animal cruelty or not, there's a strong chance this project may some day lead to technology that will easily disseminate anti-rabies vaccine through forest plants. While the designers hope to have a more formal prototype in the next five years, for now they are exploring this new technology, one wolf massage at a time.

Via Dezeen