Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
could traverse with one's shoes off and still be able to see every aspect of
the laboratory at work (of course, no one would be allowed in the wet
lab spaces proper without shoes). This pathway was designed so that
Lander and other lab leaders would be able to show visitors around the
lab—to show off the biology that was being performed there to other
scientists and to potential donors and funders. Originally the building
at 7CC had been conceived as space for retail. However, Lander saw the
open spaces and large amounts of glass as an opportunity to create a
highly transparent laboratory space. “Eric Lander's instructions to us,”
Tullis recalled, “were that he wanted [the lab] to be about transparency:
clean, bright, and open. It was a philosophical desire. Since the purpose
was to do genomic studies, and make results available, the transparency
of discovery should make its way into the architecture.”
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As a place of
both science and business, an amalgam between offi ce and laboratory,
7CC—the cleanliness and order, the light and neutral tones, murmured
conversations in the hallways—reminds the observer of a physician's
offi ce.
The division between the front region of 7CC and the back region of
320 Charles inscribes a division between two distinct kinds of practice
and two distinct products. The latter building employs many individuals
performing repetitive lab bench work or managing databases. The out-
put is large amounts of biological data. 7CC, on the other hand, houses
mostly PhD scientists performing statistical and mathematical analyses,
writing software, and performing experiments. Their work is mostly
to produce scientifi c papers based on the analysis of large amounts of
data. Each of these two distinct regimes of biological knowledge is rep-
resented by the physical spaces in which it is performed.
During the design of 7CC, it was realized that the Broad program
had expanded such that the number of sequencing machines required
would exceed the number that it would be possible to house on site.
The solution was 320 Charles: the conversion of the warehouse would
provide adequate square footage for the large number of sequencers
required. DNA sequencing is a highly repetitive activity, and the facto-
rylike layout of 320 Charles is appropriate to the performance of such
labor. Indeed, the appearance and design of the building assure the visi-
tor that it is the sort of place suited to outputting large volumes of iden-
tically replicated products (like the Red Sox jerseys that were originally
stored there). Access is limited to those few who are needed to run and
manage the day-and-night output of data. The central place given to the
sequencing machines symbolizes the notion that 320 Charles would ide-
ally run as an automaton. Careful attention is paid to the specifi c layout
