Genomes at the Wellcome Collection

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted August 29, 2007 in DNA Fun, DNA in General

The Wellcome Collection was opened this past June by Dr. James Watson and I finally got a chance to visit yesterday with my five-year-old son. We were both fascinated by the displays; he liked the elephant and whale hearts while I, of course, liked the Genomes section of the Medicine Now exhibit.

Here are some photos from our visit. Click to see larger images.

Sound Chairs upon entering the exhibit (left); a representation of the information contained in all 23 pairs of the human chromosome, to the right is a working microassay robot used in the Human Genome Project.

A display case of various personal DNA tests and kits collected in 2006-2007, including reports from African Ancestry, Oxford Ancestors, GeneTree, and a DNA embedded necklace from DesigNA.

Andrea Duncan’s Twenty Three Pairs artwork using images of an “odd sock drawer” and Barber DNA by Robin Blackledge.

Anagram by Julie Cockburn featuring DNA bases.

Jelly Baby by Mauro Perucchetti representing a cloned human. (And, no, my son is not a clone! )

For more, see the Wellcome Collection official descriptions of these key exhibits.

Update: More photos of the Wellcome Collection at Flickr.

Tags: genetics, genes, genome, genomics, dna, wellcome collection, science

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7 Comments »

Comment by David Bradley

2007-08-29 15:27:58

That Jelly Baby could be used in a horrific opening sequence about the pitfalls of the proverbial Hollywood mad scientist meddling with nature…

db

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Comment by Hsien

2007-08-29 15:32:27

No way. Jelly Baby is so cute, I wouldn’t mind taking a smaller version of her home!

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Comment by David Bradley

2007-08-29 15:36:59

Aha, you say that but imagine, hundreds of them walking towards you along a dark dripping tunnel in a cybermen stylee…

scared now?

Even Mary Poppins can be made to look like a horror movie - http://youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic

db

PS Conversely, The Shining can be made to look like a syrupy Hollywood flick - http://youtube.com/watch?v=iVjl7gK4HGU

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Comment by Hsien

2007-08-29 15:43:32

Did I ever mention I’m too scared to watch horror flicks? Thanks for giving me tonight’s nightmare. /me kicks David

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Comment by David Bradley

2007-08-29 16:24:10

You’ll be fine as long as you don’t eat any cheese or bananas just before bedtime. But, isn’t “Shining” just such a clever remix of “The Shining”, dropping the “The” makes it sound like a great family holiday time movie, you can almost taste the turkey…

db

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Comment by Misha Angrist

2007-08-29 21:49:08

I totally covet that DNA barber pole.

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Comment by Hsien

2007-08-29 21:56:34

OK. I’ll get you one for your birthday.

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