Mr Ondaatje has filled the house with the collection of Sri Lankan antiquities he had begun as a schoolboy old maps and prints of Colombo, talipot palm-leaf manuscripts, bird paintings from the Calcutta school, pre-colonial furniture, betel-nut cutters, swords, knives and firearms.

ECONOMIST: Museum sponsorship

In addition to using the living system as artwork, Brown made a series of images with a scanning electron microscope, and using the techniques to create illuminated manuscripts, he applied gold leaf to the regions of the prints where the bacterial gold deposits were found.

FORBES: FOCUS: 'Microbial Alchemy' Produces Gold From Toxic Chemical