The Transgenic Bagel, an interactive computer artwork by Sonya Rapoport is a parody on the recombinant gene splicing theme. It assumes that Noah's Ark, an early experiment in gene technology, comprised the first gene pool. Each animal residing in this virtual ark had a trait gene in its Noahsomal DNA that could be implanted into a bagel eating human. These traits are represented by Biblical personalities from the Book of Genesis.

Its initial interactive feature, with interactive sound by Craig Harris, is the presentation of the existential choice of "to play, or not to play" a simulated slot machine depicted on the screen. A grid of images of Biblical personalities appears with the option of choosing whose trait the viewer/participant would like to have. Clicking on the Biblical image reveals its animal counterpart. When the slot machine is "played", an animal appears in a horizontal row of three of a kind. This indicates that the participant has "won" that animal's trait gene. This gene is extracted from the animal by a hypodermic needle and is processed via simulated genetic search, mapping and splicing programs. A genetic formula of the trait is engineered and impregnated into a bagel, the transgenic vehicle which resembles the circular plasmid DNA.

A Quicktime movie illustrates the bagel preparation of tearing, toasting and smearing with DNA ligase cream cheese. The bagel DNA fragment is then annealed with the bagel vector. On the screen Watson and Crick are depicted as a double helix serpent watching Adam and Eve biting from recombinant bagels. Players can accept this trait gene by "eating" the recombinant bagel or they have the option of playing again until they win the trait of their chosen Biblical personality.

The Transgenic Bagel was exhibited at ISEA95, Montreal and the Copenhagen Film Festival96.
It has been transposed into an artwork for the WEB.

Smell Your Destiny is a webwork fishy tale - a story of personality traits that are exhaled by fish swimming in the community gene pools. In these pools the fish absorb the current floating environmental personality characteristics. As personality traits have manifested ever-changing values throughout history so these changes are actualized in Smell Your Destiny by participants inhaling the fumes of fishy essences. Importantly, fish have long been considered to be brain food. Thus, the tale of Smell Your Destiny expands the popular pseudo-science of aromatherapy by providing ichthyological fragrances of various traits to be absorbed in the brain.

Smell Your Destiny Is a parody on medicinal applications in vogue for changing personality behavior. The concept of the artwork addresses personality adaptations needed to attain success. Smell Your Destiny focuses on traits that at one time were considered positive attributes, but in contemporary Western society are now viewed as negative. The negative traits listed in the Stink-key Menu of this work are to be replaced with formerly scorned traits that are now highly valued. For example, aggressiveness and competitiveness were formerly considered bad qualities but now are considered good. To what extent will our ubiquitous obsession for success shape the cyber-personality and eventually its community?
Smell Your Destiny provides a clue to this looming question through interactive selections on the web. Smell Your Destiny was featured at Digital Salon95 , New York City and received special mention in the Fiva-On-Line international competition in Montreal, 1995.