Esophagus Muscularis

Layered muscle tissue of the esophagus, from an H&E-stained histology slide in the GTEx tissue catalog.

Biology builds itself in layers. A single cell divides and specializes, joining others to form tissue with a shared role. In the esophageal muscularis, cells have organized into layered muscle that coordinates the contractions of swallowing.

I drew this as part of a three-piece series tracing that progression, from cell to tissue to organ. What I wanted on the wall is the fact underneath it: every layer here originates from a single cell following its genetic instructions.

Provenance

GTEx (Genotype-Tissue Expression Project), specimen GTEX-117XS-1426
https://brd.nci.nih.gov/brd/specimen/GTEX-117XS-1426
The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Project, supported by the NIH Common Fund and NCI, NHGRI, NHLBI, NIDA, NIMH, and NINDS. Data available via the GTEx Portal and NCI Biospecimen Research Database.

Materials

Archival giclée print on fine-art paper, a faithful digital reproduction of a pen-plotted work. Each print ships with a signed data-provenance insert card.

Included

• One archival giclée print (unframed)
• Signed data-provenance insert card
• Care instructions

Studio

We are Genetics of Design, a data art studio that uses pen plotting as its medium. Every piece we make begins with a public record, whether road networks, genomes, star catalogs, or species data, which we translate through custom code into composition, density, and line, and publish alongside the provenance of the data it came from.