About Microbes
Genome – Exhibit Sections
GENOME: The Secret of How Life Works Exhibit Content
The content of “GENOME” is organized into four sections: 1) The Secret of You (entry); 2) The Secrets of Life; 3) Discovery; and 4) Living on the Frontier.
The Secret of You
The entrance introduces visitors to the importance of genes and to the remainder of the exhibit. Visitors enter a circular corridor, encountering graphic and mirror images of themselves in the initial stages of life, reflecting where they were, and as a mature human being, reflecting who they are today. From a mirror at the end of the tunnel emanates a swirling ribbon of genetic code, representing the genes that hold the secrets to where they came from, who they are, and who they may become.
The Secrets of Life
This highly interactive section explains what a gene, DNA, protein, and cell are and how genes are involved in reproduction, growth and the maintenance of life.
These are a few of the family-friendly displays found in “The Secrets of Life”:
• Giant double helix model. An 8-foot-tall, 25-foot-long genetic model of a double helix offers a colorful visual study of the basics of DNA.
• Cell Explorer. A moveable flat video screen allows visitors to navigate a large map of a cell and discover the workings of its parts and processes.
• The Cookie Factory. If proteins were boxes of cookies, here’s a fanciful look at how they might be made and packaged. Visitors observe a fantastic cookie factory machine that reads genetic recipes and produces boxes of cookies.
Discovery
This theatrical section presents the essential discoveries-and the passionate people and remarkable stories behind them-that have made the world of genetic research possible and have led to the sequencing of the entire human genome.
Gregor Mendel was a 19th-century monk who discovered the rules of inheritance by cultivating peas in a monastery garden. Oswald Avery was a slight, shy Rockefeller university researcher who, in the 1940s, indicated to everyone’s surprise that DNA is the stuff of genes.
Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase showed that DNA transforms cells through experiments in an ordinary Waring blender. Jim Watson and Francis Crick, who in Cambridge in the early 1950s, through equal parts inspiration, insight and opportunism, made what has been called the most important biological discovery of the 20th century: the form and process of genetic replication, the famous DNA double helix.
Living on the Frontier
This section discusses the impact of genetic research and the Human Genome Project on our lives. How are we changing the way we perform medical treatments, solve crimes, produce food and drugs, etc.? Visitors can explore personal, family-oriented topics and concerns.
Exhibit-goers can read personal stories about real people with genetic conditions such as hemochromatosis, Huntington’s diseases and PKU. Visitors will learn about the impact of genetic research in crime forensics and historical mysteries solved through DNA testing.
Interactive videos allow visitors to confer with genetic counselors or design new gene therapies at a computer, using genetic simulations that replace disease-causing proteins with healthy new genes.
For additional information on this Genome article, please contact:
Donna Schwartze
(314) 330-3488
donnaschwartze@earthlink.net
Source: Evergreen Exhibitions
http://www.mikekempf.wpengine.com
Related posts
