NEWS RELEASE 10th April 2003 Scientific breakthrough receives ultimate accolade This year it is fifty years since the discovery of the DNA double helix. Science Photo Library has witnessed the change in the use of its DNA imagery over time. Initially seen as a specialist subject required to illustrate science textbooks and articles only, DNA now features in a huge range of haute-design concepts, and not just in its traditional "double helix" form. The Royal Mail's new Prestige stamp book "Microcosmos" designed by CDT uses the image of a DNA fingerprint as its cover, revealing the "astonishingly complex universe that is our own anatomies". Above left: Prestige stamp book Above right: D&AD annual cover CDT's art director Stuart Young says: "The Prestige stamp books are totally dependent on good imagery, and the Science Photo Library has consistently delivered the best quality pictures to fit the bill - pictures that are often better than images supplied by the source." The same image was also used for the cover of the 2000 D&AD annual, designed by Vince Frost. Frost decided on the concept when he realised that only one per cent of human genetic code accounts for the differences between individuals: "The sequencing of the human gene might turn out to be the most important thing that happened in 2000." Renault Laguna used an image of human chromosomes (which are made up of DNA) to illustrate the car's emergency brake assist feature. While Tomlinson Wallace designed a press campaign for Subaru cars, again using an image of a DNA fingerprint, based on the concept of "World Rally genes". And the classic computer graphic double helix was used for an internet based radio station called Puremix. They chose the image because it reflected the individual nature of the music they were offering. Above left: Renault press campaign Above right: Puremix internet radio Marketing and communications director, Maria Storey says: "Scientific images can assume a meaning far beyond their original scientific context. DNA is one example of where a classic scientific subject has produced images which now speak to audiences much wider than their first specialists. Perhaps I am being immodest, but we do feel that in part we have helped that transition to have occurred, by making these scientific images "accessible" to designers and image buyers." The Science Photo Library is the world's leading provider of science imagery. Independent, privately owned and the only one of its kind in Britain, SPL is renowned for its high quality images, created by photographers, illustrators, scientists and medical specialists. For photographs contact Maria Storey, Marketing & Communications Director, Science Photo Library, 327-329 Harrow Road, London W9 3RB Tel: 020 7432 1100 Fax: 020 7286 8668 maria.storey@sciencephoto.com For an e-mail version of this press release, more details or to arrange an interview contact Patricia Lotery or Gill Gray, PoLo PR, 30 Shrewsbury Avenue, London SW14 8JZ Tel: 020 8876 4242 Fax: 020 8876 8900 e-mail: info@polopr.co.uk back to Press Releases