Overview
In 2013, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History partnered to create the Smithsonian exhibition: Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code. The exhibit celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Human Genome Project’s 2003 completion of sequencing of the human genome and the 60-year anniversary of Drs. Watson and Crick’s 1953 discovery of the DNA double-helix. More than 2.5 million visitors saw the exhibit, which used high-tech, hands-on activities and Educational programming to help make genomics accessible, understandable and exciting to the general public.
The Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code traveling exhibit is currently on a nationwide tour, appearing in museums and science centers across North America. The central mission of the exhibit continues to be highlighting the wonder and power of the genome, which contains the code of instructions for building all organisms. The exhibit educates and informs the public about genomic science and shows how the knowledge of it revolutionizes our understanding of biology, health and the natural world.
To learn more about the traveling exhibit and to see upcoming dates and locations, please visit: unlockinglifescode.org.
Goals
- Travel to museums and science centers across North America on a five-year tour.
- Celebrate the Human Genome Project’s 2003 completion of sequencing of the human genome and Drs. Watson and Crick’s 1953 discovery of the DNA double-helix.
- Use high-tech, hands-on activities and Educational programming to help make genomics accessible, understandable and exciting to the general public.
Partners
Public-Sector Partners:
- National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Private-Sector Partners:
- 23andMe, Inc.
- Affymetrix
- American Association for Clinical Chemistry and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation
- American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics
- The Brin Wojcicki Foundation
- Celgene Corporation
- The Fodor Family Trust
- Genentech
- Johnson & Johnson
- New England Biolabs
- Pacific Biosciences
- Promega Corporation
*Provided financial or in-kind support for this program.
FNIH Contact
- Development Office, [email protected]
Results & Accomplishments
As the exhibit tours the country, many local communities hold festivals and scientific Lectures that celebrate genome Research.
Media
- The New York Times (Aug. 29, 2013): The ABC’s of Your DNA: ‘Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code,’ at the Smithsonian