1 - The aim of Biojewellery is to draw out some fresh perspectives on the role of science and technology.

2 - How can design contribute to a richer debate, where issues that surround science innovation are explored?

3 - Our focus is tissue engineering, particularly materials used to help rebuild our bodies after trauma or disease.

4 - This bioactive glass implant fits into a patient's eye socket, where it bonds to surrounding bone tissue.

5 - The glass is not rejected by the patient's body, but it is not replaced by bone. 

6 - In contrast, this porous material acts as a scaffold for bone cells, and is replaced as the tissue develops.

7 - A patient's cells can be cultured in the lab into pre-shaped bone tissue, customised for the patient's injury.

8 - As designers, we are interested in the role of this lab-grown tissue as a material for personalising objects.

9 - There is a history of utilising bone for ornamentation in worn artefacts.

10 - We imagined combining tissue with the metals of a ring, representing an intimacy between two people.

11 - Cells are taken from a couple, cultured into bone tissue, then crafted into a pair of rings. Each wears the body of the other. 

12 - Over 200 couples expressed an interest. They described their relationships, and their desire to become involved.

13 - Four couples are currently donating cells. Jonathan and Michaela are science workers, their rings will be wedding bands. 

14 - The rings are also a commitment symbol for Trish and Linz. The couples have all contributed to the design of their rings.

15 - Harriet and Matt see their bone as | an alternative to jewels, which they | find unethical.

16 - Ashley and Michelle are motivated by the ritual of exchange, and the viscerality of cell donation.

17 - The most complex feature of the project was finding an ethical method for couples to donate their cells.

18 - The national ethics committee approved bone to be taken from the jaw, providing the patient required a wisdom tooth removal.

19 - Harriet signs a final consent form before her tooth extraction at GuyÕs Hospital | in London.

20 - The extremity of the operation perhaps adds to the level of commitment represented by the jewellery.

21 - A chip of bone is taken from the jaw during the operation, while the tooth is discarded.

22 - The chip goes immediately into culture medium in a sterile flask, to avoid infection.

23 - The explanted fragment is taken to a biology lab, and prepared for the first stages of culturing.

24 - It is broken up into smaller fragments, this provides the sample with a much lager surface area. 

25 - These smaller chips are placed in a liquid nutrient. Over two weeks, cells flow out of the chips into the fluid.

26 - This rich soup of osteoblasts cells is poured over the scaffold, which the tissue grows around.

27 - This image shows a healthy set of cells. The process takes 6-8 weeks from extraction to mineralisation.

28 - While the tissue is growing, the metal parts of the ring are designed and cast.

29 - A model of a ring. The final rings are | being designed in October 2006. | Details at www.biojewellery.co.uk.