Getting to know biology through textiles

An attempt to find new ways to popularize science and encourage more women into it by demonstrating the scientific content of women's traditional work is described. The idea was to teach scientists textile knowledge and to teach those interested in textiles, science. Scientists could be given a course in textile dyeing and the textile group could illustrate a scientific problem in textiles. The plans to give a course in textile dyeing had to be postponed but the textile illustration of a scientific problem went well. Seventy students illustrated their thoughts on gene technology in six different works. Four of these were exhibited at an official commercial exhibition. One entitled ‘The Pyramid’ aroused especially strong feelings. The textile works showed that the new knowledge could be achieved through textiles.