Yuning Chen is a PhD candidate working at the intersection of design, engineering biology and STS regarding the ethics of designing with living organisms at Design Informatics, University of Edinburgh. More specifically, she is interested in exploring other-than-human practices of resistance, labour provenance and justice through methods of research-through-design (RtD), critical biodesign, theatre and artistic practice. Her teaching experience includes bioart in social critique of systems and synthetic biology as well as design for climate emergencies. Examples of her recent research include Labour Provenance–uncovering hidden more-than-human labourers behind laboratory reagents, tools and culture media followed by a structural analysis drawing on animal labour theory; and Microbial Revolt, an creative study that analyses and challenges the embedded forms of more-than-human oppression in the design of biolab devices, laboratory norms and regulations as well as the epistemic tension between biology and design through the lens of more-than-human resistance. Her practice has been recognised internationally such as ST+ARTS Awards and Falling Walls Scientific Breakthrough of the Year. Her works have also exhibited widely such as at the London Design Festival, Dutch Design Week, Edinburgh Science Festival and Bozar Centre of Fine Art. Her latest work can be found at https://www.alienyuning.com.
