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Genome exhibition travels to The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California

Genome exhibition travels to The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California

Engagement in San Jose will be from January 22 - April 27, 2015

By Raymond MacDougall
Associate Director of Communications, Division of Intramural Research

Genome Unlocking Life's Code
Following a four-month engagement at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, the high-impact, interactive exhibition, Genome: Unlocking Life's Code, is making its second stop in California. The exhibition will open at The Tech Museum of Innovation, in San Jose, on Jan. 22, 2015, where the public will be able to visit it through April 27, 2015.

Genome: Unlocking Life's Code is a multi-year collaboration between the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C. The exhibition attracted more than 3 million visitors in its inaugural year, which began in June 2013.

Photo courtesy of The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California.
Night view of museum building

"We are looking forward to introducing the San Jose community to the wonders of genomics," said Carla Easter, Ph.D., chief of NHGRI's Education and Community Involvement Branch. "Its installation will be a wonderful addition to the other innovative exhibitions currently at The Tech Museum. We're also excited about new educational features on the exhibition website, unlockinglifescode.org, that will enhance community engagement."

When the Genome: Unlocking Life's Code exhibition opened in the nation's capital in 2013, that event coincided with the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project and 60th anniversary year of the discovery of the double-helical structure of DNA by Drs. James Watson and Francis Crick. During its subsequent stopover in San Diego - from September to December 2014 - about 55,000 visitors viewed the exhibition, including a special event attended by 700 members of the military and their families during a Military Family Day, hosted by NHGRI, the San Diego Military Family Collaborative, and the Reuben H. Fleet Center, in November. 

Scientists, museum designers, and education programming experts worked for almost two years to conceptualize and build the 4,400 square-foot exhibition. By illustrating and explaining genomics, the exhibition offers visitors a new, personal perspective - as an individual, a member of a family, a representative of a species and as part of the diversity of life on Earth.

Following its stop in San Jose, the exhibition will visit:
  • St. Louis Science Center, May 15 - Sept. 10, 2015 
  • Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oct. 2, 2015 - Jan. 3, 2016 
  • Discovery World, Milwaukee, Jan. 18 - April 25, 2016
  • Exploration Place, Wichita, Kansas, Sept. 30, 2016 - Jan. 1, 2017 
  • Peoria (Illinois) Riverfront Museum, Jan. 28 - May 29, 2017
  • Science North, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, Sept. 30, 2017 - Jan. 1, 2018 

The exhibition website, unlockinglifescode.org, also features educational resources that can be used to teach students and learners of all ages about DNA. Videos of many of the public educational programs, including lectures, symposia, discussion panels, and informal discussions, held in conjunction with the exhibition, have been posted at http://www.genome.gov/27554054/genome-unlocking-lifes-code-education-programs/.

Posted: January 16, 2015

Last updated: January 16, 2015