A new exhibit created by the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa (www.nature.ca/genome) is intended to demystify the science of genomics, challenge misconceptions and encourage questions. The exhibit opened Apr. 25, and will visit 8 cities over the next 3 years before becoming a permanent exhibit in Ottawa.
The $2.5-million exhibit, sponsored by the museum, Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, explores the mapping of the human genome and the potential implications this mapping holds for health care. “Genomics is quickly changing the way we view nature and how humans relate to it,” says museum CEO Joanne DiCosimo. “We saw a huge need for public education, and that's the role of this museum.”
To help explain this complex subject, the exhibit — “Putting the Gee! In Genome” — uses music as a metaphor. Each of the chemical bases of DNA — A, T, C, G — has been assigned a note. When combined in various ways, these 4 letters, or notes, create a symphony of life. “It's a way of understanding the collective impact of all the bits,” explains DiCosimo.
The exhibit also employs a video game in which participants race against a cell to build protein, and a grocery-scanning game to teach people which foods contain genetically modified organisms.
The exhibit opening coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first scientific publication by James Watson and Francis Crick describing DNA's double-helix structure. It also celebrates the life and values of the late Dr. Michael Smith, the Canadian Nobel laureate who developed the technique called oligonucleotide-based site-directed mutagenesis, the process that enabled researchers to introduce specific mutations into genes. — Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ