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Who says bacteria can't groove? Welcome to the coolest spot in town - our Petri dish jazz club! This artwork reflects my love for jazz and the joy it brings me. It features key elements of jazz, such as a saxophone, piano, bass, vocalist, trumpet, and drums, all blending together to create a vibrant atmosphere.

The bacteria used in this artwork are sourced from a variety of extreme environments, including the oceans of Korea, soil from Northern Greenland, and polar research stations—Dasan Station and King Sejong Station. This piece includes four distinct strains of Bacillus, along with Janthinobacterium lividum, Pedobacter ginsenosidimutans, and the alga Parachlorella kessleri.

These remarkable microorganisms have adapted to thrive in harshest conditions, demonstrating resilience against extreme cold, high salinity, and intense UV radiation. Their ability to adapt in such challenging environments reflects the essence of jazz. Jazz musicians are attuned to their musical surroundings, adjusting their performances based on interactions with the audience and fellow musicians. They improvise spontaneously, exhibiting a unique adaptability.

Through this piece, I celebrate the joyful connection between microbial life and the spirit of jazz. Let the microbial jazz begin, inviting everyone to embrace the joy of life and music!

I titled this piece "The Path of Discovery". To create it, I used genetically modified bacteria expressing fluorescent proteins of various colors. The dot patterns were achieved by placing drops of bacterial culture with a micropipette. Once the bacterial "painting" had developed, I photographed it under UV light to capture the fluorescence. This artwork is presented as a triptych, symbolizing a journey through elements that bring me joy: travel, my work (yes!) in synthetic biology, and observing nature. I was inspired by aboriginal art and its symbols, which often represent dreams and travel, to bring an oneiric aspect to this artwork !

In a microbial world where intergalactic canines roam free, the “Frenchie’s in Black” are not your typical members of the urobiome. The 1.5 micrometer Escherichia coli pups are a highly trained team of Frenchie’s in sleek suits. With their keen sense of smell for detecting host defenses and an unparalleled ability to transform from adorable to fierce in 45 minutes, Agent Ethan Col-I is ready to unleash a wave of recurrent infections. Armed with the virulence factor, siderophores to sequester host nutrients, Agent E, keeps the bladder primed and ready for his friends to colonize. Agent E, and His buddy Agent K, or Kevinella Pneumoniae prevents Lainey Bacillus from taking over and assisting the host defenses. One pilli paw at a time, Agent E is promoting successful attachment and biofilm formation. When activated Agent K spews capsule from Agent E’s bow tie. Forming the dynamic polymicrobial duo of infectious agents.

All outlines made with Uropathogenic Escherichia coli, inner ear shaded with a mixture of candida species, bow tie Klebsiella pneumoniae, and “grass” Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Inner ears of Agent E shaded with Staphylococcus aureus. Eye irises are made with antibiotic disks (with permanent black marker). Negative space streaks made with inoculation needle for texture.

As a PhD student the simple things bring me joy. I enjoy science fiction comedies like Men in black, I also enjoy cuddles from doggies. Together a comedic movie and puppies create a harmonious balance of joy and inspiration. This simple art piece features my labs favorite bug UPEC and my favorite past time, art.

My greatest joy lies in the moments I spend playing with my cat, Mofu. Her name comes from the Japanese term mofu-mofu, which captures the idea of fluffiness, so in English, her name would be 'Fluffy.' True to her name, Mofu has soft, luxurious fur, with a particularly charming feature—a patch of white fur that extends from her face down to her neck. Holding and playing with this fluffy companion lifts away the stress of daily life. I've aimed to capture this peaceful, joyful moment in my work using Candida.

This artwork captures the essence of what brings me the most joy—love and connection. At the heart of the piece is my queen, my girlfriend, whose presence fills my life with meaning. The two birds represent my pigeons, faithful messengers flying between us, symbolizing communication and devotion. The butterfly resting above her head signifies hope, freedom, and the lightness of being in love. Through this agar art, I celebrate the beauty of love, the joy of sharing messages, and the simple happiness found in cherished connections.

This piece is a portrait of my goldfish named Fish, inspired by the everyday joys in life. One of the first loves of my life was animals, and as I have gotten older I still turn to animals for a sense of childlike joy. In my new-to-me apartment, I can specifically turn to Fish, the rescued goldfish in my living room. When we first moved in, my roommates and I made (what we considered to be) the adult decision to have no pets. We held strong for a couple months until a friend came over with a very sick goldfish. Half of its tail had rotted away, and patches of black scales littered its lethargic body. I had low hopes that he would survive, but I offered to take him and do my best. To my surprise, he survived the first night, then the first week, and by the second week I allowed myself to name him Fish. A month in, his tail started to grow back, his scales a smooth field of orange. Seeing him anew fills me with joy in the knowledge I helped change his outcome in life, amplifying the everyday joy I get watching him.

We live in the Middle East, in Iran. Every morning when the sun rises, we wake up with a lot of stress and war news. Wishing for world peace is the only thing that will make not only us but the whole world happy.

In my favorite movie, Lilo & Stitch, Stitch is a chaotic alien who wreaks havoc on Lilo's family in Hawaii. Despite his mischievous antics, Lilo and her sister forgive him and eventually accept him as part of their family (after rescuing him from the alien council chasing him). Just as Stitch starts out chaotic and unpredictable, but becomes a loved part of their Ohana, microbiology can be confusing and overwhelming at first. But with synthetic biology and education, we can learn to love and work with it, creating pieces of art such as this Stitch right here. This year's prompt, What Brings You Joy, is answered not just in Stitch, but in each little E. coli that made up this picture.

This piece features the character Joy from Inside Out, my favourite character. Since the movie first came out, it has always been a personal favourite; it captures the complexity of emotions beautifully as well as in a humorous manner. Whenever I watch the film, I feel uplifted and inspired to find joy in the little things in life, making it a constant source of happiness for me and the muse for my artwork.

My piece represents the Wyoming Mountains. A few of the reasons it brings me joy is 1 it's peaceful, quiet, and beautiful. The second reason is that whenever I visit My great grandmother (who I call Mimi) in Laramie Wyoming, we always go up to the mountains for a picnic and it's always so much fun to make the hotdogs, smores, eat Cheetos (which she calls carrots). It just makes me so happy. I used the Serratia marcescens. I created my art by applying the Serratia marcescens to the inoculating loop and gently brushed it on my plate, and copied the design on my paper. I let it sit for 3 days.

My piece shows a diversity of marine wildlife and habitats. When I think about what brings me joy, I think of healthy ecosystems. I am lucky to have had many amazing experiences enjoying and appreciating the broad diversity of life on the planet and I especially love exploring marine habitats. I represented just a few of my favorite marine animals. I really enjoyed making this art with the naturally bioluminescent marine bacteria, Photobacterium leiognathi strain KNH6. I used a thin paint brush to spread this bacteria culture onto Luria broth salt agar plates. This agar has salt in it because this is a seawater isolate and therefore the bacteria need salt to grow. I incubated the plates at room temperature overnight and then took photos of the plates in the dark. My dream is to become a conservation biologist and I wanted to help bring awareness to the importance of maintaining the health of our ecosystems with this agar art.

What brings me the most joy in life is throwing a dog a ball. I love all animals and my pets are my greatest joy. My piece shows a dog with a tennis ball flying above him. I created this artwork by using Serratia marcescens bacteria for the red color, and Micrococcus luteus for the white color. I created my art by dipping the inoculating loop tool into the red bacteria, Serratia marcescens. When I was finished with the red bacteria, I got a new loop tool and dipped the end into the white color, Micrococcus luteus. Using the side of the hoop, I carefully drew the tennis ball onto my dish. With the red bacteria, I carefully drew on the dog and the hearts. After that, I washed my hands and waited a week for the germs to grow... and surprise, the cutest dog ever!!!