In 2003, when the human genome had been completely sequenced, scientists announced that there are 3 .1 billion letter representations of base pair systems in the human genome. If you try to imagine anything with 3.1 billion parts, you’ll soon realize that it’s nearly impossible.
When information designer Ben Fry tried to wrap his head around the concept, he did what any good artist would do: he decided to create it in a way people could use to understand the scale and magnitude of 3.1 billion pieces of information.
Using a computer program, he created prints of the letter representations. Each letter is 3 pixels wide and the finished pieces, with millions of letters, are gigantic- the below piece is 8 feet by 8 feet.
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