Biotechnology, in its voyage from ancient times into the expanding frontier areas of today's world of scientific research, has revealed itself as the gene of diplomacy and international cooperation in the relationships between nations Art and culture in revealing the human face of biotechnology help engender solidarity amongst different cultures in the quest of the culture of a sustainable peace.

Biotechnology, through the passage of time and its applications in agriculture, industry and medicine, has moved beyond the frontiers of biobased materials and revolutionized medicine into the domains of the arts, philosophy and theology. Some four decades ago attention was drawn to the catalytic role of microbes in diplomacy and to use of their 'technological carte blanche' for improving the quality of life and human well-being worldwide (Foster, 1964).

In current times more and more scientists are teaming up with artists to harness the world of microbes and biotechnology in the pursuit of one's natural well-being, of the conservation of environmental heritage, of human comradeship and welfare, and of mental and spiritual tranquillity ----the foundation stones of a veritable quest of a culture of peace[1] pioneered by Federico Mayor in his capacity as then Director-General of UNESCO.

Economic and biotechnological considerations, strong elements in themselves in motoring policy implementation need, nevertheless, the support and sustenance of the public's logic and understanding of science that nurture individual and collective peace especially in young children ---tomorrow's architects of a much desired sustainable peace through the avenues of art and culture[2]. Culture matters in economic development since the latter is the guarantor of cultural heritage and of cultural advantages in the market-oriented economies of today's world. Cultural entrepreneurialship can make a significant impact since it drives national kinship and regional strategies in engendering a work ethic that helps combat, minimise, and eradicate the scourges of disease, hunger, lack of shelter, loss of inspirational and spiritual motivation, poverty and unemployment. Cultural heritage and legacy are the twin motors of technological advancement and economic development that have their roots in ancestral agricultural practices and food fermentations.

The practice of biotechnology in the cradle of agriculture ---The Fertile Crescent in 10,000 BC and its contributions to the evolution and spread of cultural and linguistic diversity have been traced in the dissemination of seeds, their sowing in different geographical areas, and to the development of agricultural traditional-based agricultural knowledge and practices (Bar Yosef 1998; Diamond and Bellwood, 2003). Thus there exists a strong worldwide linkage between agricultural diversity and cultural diversity.

Current folkloristic fermentation methods are more closely associated with the ancient Egyptian beer brewing process captured in the murals and reliefs in the tombs of the pharaohs as well as those in documented ancient papyrus records and writings. And, the successful replication today in Japan of the ancient beer brewing process reaffirms the long-held universal admission that the practice of microbiology in that country is indeed the practice of art and science (Ishida, 2002). The cultural nuances of the brewing art- science relationship of fermentation technology ---art in ancient times and science in the modern era have been captured through the elegance and the eloquence of the painters' brush (Hodgson and Bormann, 1988).

The worldwide cultural heritage of biotechnology is found predominantly in food and nutrition. Fermented foods endowed with medicinal properties in some cases, and providing for easy digestibility, increased micronutrient content and enhanced food textures and tastes fermented are like flags that have become part of the national fabric and identity, Arak (Lebanon, Middle East); Champagne (France); Hama (Syria) Ikigage (Rwanda); Jben (Morocco); Kaschiri (Brazil); Cachiri (Colombia); Kimchi (Korea), Masata (Mozambique), Munkoyo (Zambia), Patagras (Cuba); Sake (Japan), Sauerkraut (Germany), Surstromming (Sweden); and Tairu (Malaysia) are all well known examples of the mix of human and microbial skills that constitute the cultural art and component in the production of fermented foods.

Cultural heritage and environmental-societal relationships are enriched by the palette and patterns of colours of the artist Mother Nature that have been locked into her sculptural art and scenic landscapes and that have been preserved in the corridors of time for future generations. Environmental art with its calming and uplifting therapeutics has been used to make potent ecological activist and pictorial statements on issues of relevance to development, the environment, and poverty, etc. Moreover, environmental or ecoart[3] is about art, humanity and nature as exemplified in the biosphere reserves and multiple ecosystems --- i.e. about aesthetics, biology, culture, chemistry, education, ethics, history, microbiology, physics, society and the environment and their interconnections with one another in the repertoire of Nature's heritage bequeathed to humankind.

The 1950s ushered in the era of an industrial technology that used the brute forces of heat and temperature of a petroleum-based economy to feed the culture of consumerism, and by consequence the culture of waste. The 3Bs of societal status -big, better, and bountiful brought in its wake damage to the environment, realization of the finite availability of fossil-based fuels and the inescapable truth of the rising costs of the war against infectious diseases and malnutrition. The energy, economic and environmental security of the mid-1970s bear the scars of the use of oil as a weapon that paralysed and transformed the transportation sector, and that ironically gave birth to the concepts of the 3RS -reduce, reuse and recycle --that have become the foundation stone of zero-emission biotechnology that in the framework of a carbohydrate-based economy is rich in aesthetic, artistic, clean, green potential.

Through the lens of hindsight, the series of the 10 Global Impacts of Applied Microbiology Conferences (GIAMS), ushered in new grounds for research in the emerging fields of environmental microbiology and geomicrobiology; attracted decision- and policy-makers to the human face of microbiology that was undergoing a transformation that was being influenced by blueprints and concepts for bioresource utilization, conservation of microbial germplasm, recycling of wastewaters, etc. aimed at sustainable development.

Long-term eco-aesthetic project activities illustrate the utility of the four-in-one technology that integrates the principles of biosolar power, conservation of the environment, sanitary engineering and village economy to yield a gaseous biofuel -methane derived from solid biomass residues and grey- and blackwater biowastes. These developments result from the well-known integrated biosystems such as the Maya Farms (Philippines) and the Xinbu village model (China) that utilize the 3Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle; and which are at the basis of greenclean technology processes in developing novel 'ecological gardens' or 'eco-courtyards' that bears witness to the transition from the "creative waste" culture, resulting from the galloping growth of the corporate food industries, to the culture of commonsense in the use of non-renewable and renewable resources concerning the production of the 5Fs: Food, Feed. Fibre, Fuel, and Farmaceuticals.

The Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in 1972 provides a legal mechanism that helps to ensure the safeguarding of tangible heritage that, however, is at times open to deterioration, decay and discolouration resulting from metabolic processes of microbial entities and other biodeteriogens. Developments in modern-day biotechnology have given rise to new frontiers in agriculture, medicine, ethics, biosafety, industry, intellectual property, legal obligations and cultural heritage (Brodwin, 2000; Ciferri and Tiano, 2000; DaSilva, 2003). Works of art ranging from buildings to books, wall paintings to textiles, and from sculptures to glass etchings are globally subject to defacement and degradation by microbial action. Environmental pollution takes it toll notwithstanding geographic location or gross domestic product country-status. The appreciation of cultural heritage and cultural property gains in time through use of information technology and biotech probes to monitor biodeterioration in safeguarding ancient cave paintings, stone mural graphics and subterranean mosaics. Innovative biotech-based approaches are now being designed to safeguard and conserve the archaeological, artistic and cultural heritage of Europe (Basztura, 2003)

The conservation of the planet's cultural and physical heritage ironically is to be found in the dual physiological role of microbial influence. Biodeterioration and bioconservation involve methods that identify microbial entities that cause bio-structural damage and deterioration; and, that reduce, prevent, bioremediate, conserve and restore cultural property and heritage. Bacterial intervention has been used recently in the biorestoration of the fresco 'Conversion and Battle of St. Elfisio' by the artist Spinello Aretino in the Camposanto cemetery begun in 1278 by Giovanni Simone in Pisa(Arie, 2003).

The pursuit of science has been a significant factor in the evolution of art. Salvador Dali, Alexis Rockman, Mark Francis, Susan Rankaitis and the sculptor Tom Otterness were inspired by the discovery of the DNA molecule that is now an icon in the arts and the sciences (Gamwell, 2002a; Gamwell, 2000b).

Harmony with nature provides an insight into natural microbial and biotechnical architecture -the cultural face of biotechnology (Ben Jacob, 2003) and into the structural ethics of creation of novel forms, and by consequence to the need for technical communication and peace with different cultures and peoples through the medium of environmental art and peace (Uiah, 2003).

The arts and its components - the audiovisual word, digital art, music, paintings, sculptural art and works of prose and verse constitute a powerful medium for an appreciation of the culture of fermentation; and contribute to the evolution of the human face of biotechnology and its significance for peace. Through the world of colors, drawings and paintings that emphasizes the cultured face rather than the delinquent side of humanity, biotechnology emerges to motivate and to inspire, and to appreciate the interphasing of culture in science and vice-versa through the looking glass of art.

Several prestigious scientific periodicals have employed this modality to attract and educate the young, and to alert and instruct policy-makers in the biotech issues of the day that will impact on the sustainability of future environmental, economic and socio-cultural development for human welfare. An apt example, a novel potential teaching aid is the cover commentaries of Potter (2003), amongst others, that reinforce the work of time-honored exponents of the arts ---- Jacques-Louis David, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, etc., with the scourge of new and re-emerging diseases[4].

Art galleries and exhibitions of paintings and electronic bio-art are eloquent witnesses of the "odyssey in art in science" (Palevitz, 2002) as the biotechnologies and "bioscience moves into the galleries as bioart" (Cohen, 2002).

Bio-art[5] captured naturally through the implement of time in rock and stone is proof of the artistic genius of Mother Nature's creations and filigree handiwork with once living invisible microbial forms. Fossil biotechnology like genetic and microbial art involves the merging of the frontiers between art and science. The paleontological unveiling of the structural mysteries and symmetries of microbial and planktonic life provides an insight into early microscopic life and its milieu in the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic transitionary (Seilacher, 1997).

Biosci-art, indeed, varies in scope and range. Also known as bio-art, it excites, intrigues, questions, teaches and unifies opinions and viewpoints as humanity moves forward through the motor of biotechnology.

Bioart reinforces science, helps in the social interpretation of the pros and cons of gene science through the "theater of transgenics"; and, is of value in engendering public awareness and in functioning as a teaching and research aid in academic course work (O'Reilly, 2003). Moreover, bioart provides an aesthetic appreciation of scientific research and an environment that is pertinent to the conduction of high-level mental activity (Kemp, 2003).

The expanding world of bioart and of DNA aesthetics has seemingly arisen from the work of pioneers in genesthetics (Davis, 2003), synthetics, and in the deciphering of the artistry of microorganisms that during colony development (Ben-Jacob, 2003).

Biosci-art can also be found on stamps and banknotes. Virtually every country has issued stamps that capture for posterity the range and wealth of plant and animal biodiversity as a tool for young scientists attracted by the modern fields of conservation biology and biotechnology. The pioneering work of microbiologists has been honoured philatelically (Doty, 1975). Nicolas Appert and Louis Pasteur, pioneers in microbiology and the fundamental discoveries of eight Nobel Prize geneticists amongst many others, now constitute the artistic, cultural and scientific heritage of humanity. Biotechnology on stamps is science and culture across frontiers via land, sea and airmail providing a momentary inducement to participate in the enquiry of the biosciences; and artistic appreciation of international science and culture. Stamps also serve to educate and to make the public aware of the culture of fear and terror provoked by disease and its impact on human resources. Currency notes promote a sense of solidarity in national and international participation vis-à-vis technological achievements. Apart from conveying messages of a nation's history, political and social advancements, banknotes are records of artistic, cultural and scientific contributions of human endeavor in the cause of bettering the quality of life of humankind. The labors of Oswaldo Cruz, Paul Ehrlich and Louis Pasteur are examples that have been recognized on national banknotes as integral components of the techno-cultural heritage of their respective countries.

Culture collections of microorganisms are storehouses of microbial germplasm and heritage; and, and to a very great extent mimic natural conditions in which microbes exist and engage in their routine well-honed metabolic symphonies and orchestras of enzymatic action. Notwithstanding the unravelling of the natural genomic blueprints of microorganisms of economic, medical, environmental and industrial significance the challenge in the immediate future is to attract young researchers to the cause of research in taxonomy, biosafety, and biosecurity. Utilisation of biosci-art which captures the time-development of bacterial growth (Salleh, 2000) could provide an incentive in attracting potential curators and researchers to further investigate the artistry of novel microbial species such as: Deinococcus radiodurans; Dehalococcoides ethenogenes; Nanoarchaeum equitans; Polaromonas naphthalenivorans; Serpulina pilosicoli; Thiomargarita namibiensis; and Wolbachia pipientis.

Much has been written about microbes and genetic engineering. Hilaire Belloc commemorated the microbe and its features in a well-known poem in 1897. The arts have through the pen (The Secret, Brave New World, Genometry, The Boys of Brazil) and the palette of artificial and natural luminescent phenomena as in the green fluorescent bunny and the bioluminescent bacteria have helped to provide an insight into the mysteries of life through interpretations and speculative enquiry. Cancer, the scourge of humanity, induces a culture of fear and terror unexpectedly. Cancer, nevertheless, brings forth ironically a sense of solidarity betwixt the potent and the poor in combating this virtually incurable disease. Moreover there is some sort of unspoken human communion that binds the afflicted from all strata of society (von Engelhardt, 2003). Cinema (GATTACA, etc.) and TV (Bionic Man and Woman) releases of today focus on topical issues. On the other hand scientists are breaking new ground through engagement in genetic culture and DNA-art, thus emphasizing the indisputable relevance of art to science and vice-versa (Madoff, 2002; Center for Genetics and Society, 2003; Monaghan, 2004).

Medical art is generally believed to have first been recorded in the cuneiform tablets of ancient Mesopotamia. The well-known papyri such as the Brugsch, Georg Ebers, Edwin Smith and Kahun papyri document the evolution of medicine and its concepts from the ancient Egyptian practices and philosophies to contemporary or subsequent developments in Ayurvedic (Vedic Period) Chinese (Nei Jing), Galenic, Hippocratic, and Islamic medicine. The birth of the shared history emerging from the impact of the meeting between the Old and the New worlds is accompanied by the introduction of alien ailments, cultural habits and languages that would radically change the cultural, demographic, disease and linguistic profiles of the New World (Ubelaker, 1999).

The effects of drugs ranging from instant death to resurrection and from inducement of love and romance in a much desired recipient have been captured in a review of the 'strange pharmacopoeia of opera and stage '(Max, 1988). Aesthetic and graphic medical art and soothing music with their educational and palliative effects uplift sagging morale in clinical and hospital environments by engendering good-feel perceptions that reduce anxiety, pain and stress.

Computer science has recently been used to capture from living cells the music patterns and soundscapes that result from the merging of scientific fact and knowledge with artistic expression and thought. In reviewing scientist-composers and composers who have ventured into science there is justification that music and science together constitute key elements of creativity and scientific thinking (Root-Bernstein, 2001; Parsons, 2003). This rapid developing field opens up new vistas of science education and research through the teaming up of artists and scientists and bears witness to the changing way of doing and teaching science. John Dunn and Mary Anne Clark (1997) have captured protein music in an audio CD Life Music as a means to facilitate interest and teaching in the complexities of cell, micro-, and molecular biology. An update of the physiological relevance to DNA music reinforces the physio-musical conversion of codons into computer-generated music with annotations of recent music (Gena and Strom, 2001)

DNA-, gamma crystalline and protein-based music are examples in the learning of protein structure and biochemistry. The music of the plant proteins of medicinal plants and herbs has been tapped in a CD Music of the Plants (Long, 1999) to provide calming, relaxing and strength-giving ambiences in health clinics, spas, and dental and hospital environments. One may even dance to genomic music derived from encoding DNA sequences into MIDI sequencers and other music files (MP3s) to play genetic "tunes" (Knickerbocker, 2001).

Unique microbe music recording real time actual growth and expressed in musical sound results from a combination of computing and microbiological skills. Growth is recorded pictorially online and onscreen with the music it makes as growth occurs. Other mp3 formats are slime mould music and the synthesized musical interpretation of the spider silk protein -spidrion (Pulse of the Planet, 2001).

The interaction of the arts, music and biotechnology is borne out in the names of rock groups and album titles and songs that reveal a seeming awareness of microbes and genetics and their expression of the issues and the moods of the late 1960s and the late 1990s. In current times, perhaps the debates on the pros and the cons of gene modification issues in the agrofood sector may have contributed to a seeming awareness of genetics that can be gauged from the discography database labels of electronic music --- Genetic Music, Genetic Razor, Genetic Records, Genetic Recordings, Genetic Stress, Genetic Rhythm Records, etc.

The mix of imagination, new scientific technologies ---biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology, and easily accepted modes of sustaining child and student interest over a long period of time constitute on one hand a challenge and, on the other hand, the difference in evolving patterns of science education. The challenge spurs school and college teachers to adapt and to transform their traditional teaching methods into modern updated techniques that give more meaning and substance to their crucial role as educators and then as agents of development of the policy decision-makers and the intellectual fabric of tomorrow. That being said, the difference in patterns of science education is reflected in the technological gap that characterises the four components of the planet's economic and technological categorization of nations ---namely the industrialized societies, the new technologically-advancing developing countries, the late developing countries and the least developed countries. New tools of science education involve computer self-teaching programs and CD materials, TV screenings and even the medium of the cinema. Useful as these are, they are, nevertheless, not easily accessible to poverty-stricken communities in the worldwide rural and urban sectors of the planet's pool of tomorrow's presidents, prime ministers, philosophers and philanthropists, and policy-makers as is evident in today's time-honoured and conflicting fora of Davos; Porto Alegre; and of Bombay starting 2004. In this context, comic strips are of significance as a teaching tool in primary schools (Rota and Izquierdo, 2003) and draw upon the power of the pictorial-instructing and visual-retaining word to encourage youngsters to have a better appreciation of the potential, the pitfalls and the practise of ethics in biotechnology (Harms, 2002). Another teaching tool is that of music that is closely intertwined with human cultural endeavour inspiring and touching the biological emotions of humanity (Gray et al, 2001; Hotz, 2002). Music embraces the rich and the poor in a unifying bond of human consciousness; and yet, as a powerful tool transcends the intricacies of language and vocabulary in the domain of communication technology. And, whilst much of the neurobiological and physiological impulses associated with music have been deciphered, there remains still the unexplained the role of music in influencing human emotions and driving romance (Anon, 2000).

Peace is more than the absence of war and violence. The obverse face of the coin of all-embracing peace has its origins in the roots of education, culture and tolerance whereas the reverse face symbolizes the resulting absence of civil disorder, societal abuse, and violence. Poverty, hunger, social intolerance, and lack of education contribute to the societal unraveling of the fabric of peace woven through decades through the threads of tolerance, social literacy, Trade wars such as the banana-export wars and the denial of biotech-derived foods to hungry and malnourished populations disadvantaged by their poverty-stricken status; ecological and natural disasters, and emergent diseases do not help. Communal mistrust, ethnic unrest, unemployment, poverty, social injustice, etc. constitute a dissuasion for the culture of peace that seeks advantageous one-upmanship amongst peoples in the international arena, and by consequence that feeds the trade and weapons market for high-tech bio- and chemical weapons.

Disregard and disrespect for peoples and principles of ethics weaken the basic national and global cornerstones ---education, conservation of young and promising male and female lives, tolerance, etc., that drive a sense of racial equality, respect for gender, social diversity, and the security of an impartial justice so necessary for the cultural pursuit of peace given that most of the cultural heritage of the southern hemisphere is in collections and on display in museums elsewhere. Efforts in 'building a global culture of science' (Varmus, 2003) and by consequence of peace, must concentrate on eradicating bioterrorism that betrays a lack of cultural responsibility to one's faith and to one's peoples. The inviolability and the invincibility of the bright side of biotechnology must remain intact and prevail through well-thought out containment process and control protocol in combating the dark side of biotechnology that is being expressed through bioinsecurity, bioterrorism and biowarfare.Thus, artists, creators of novel art, intellectuals, scientists and researchers in bioart have an important role in helping secure worldwide a durable culture of peace.