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'Genome' to be unveiled at Indiana State Museum
Humans have more in common with fruit flies and bananas than they would think. Guests will discover why and learn the real facts of life in Genome:  The Secret of How Life Works, a new exhibit at the Indiana State Museum from Jan. 22–May 8. The exhibit is co-sponsored by Indiana University.

Visitors to Genome can:

• Explore a 25-foot-long model of a double helix while gaining a quick understanding of the basics of DNA.

• Navigate a large map of a cell and discover how a person grows from a single cell to a complete human being.

• Look up the “recipe” for hair color in a giant genetic recipe book.

• View an animated cookie machine that shows how a company cranking out cookies is similar to a cell pumping out proteins.

• Discover how DNA analysis has helped solve crimes and mysteries, such as the  disappearance of the Russian royal family, the Romanovs.

• Investigate how scientists are using knowledge of genes to improve health today and benefits we can anticipate in the future.

The Genome exhibition also showcases the Human Genome Project—a worldwide project that mapped the 30,000-plus human genes. In addition, Genome takes a look at the 200-year history of this science and the individuals who have shaped it—from Gregor Mendel, the 19th-century monk who discovered the rules of inheritance by cultivating peas in a monastery garden, to James Watson and Francis Crick, who in 1953 identified the famous DNA double helix.

The IMAX Theater in the Indiana State Museum also will show The Human Body film to coincide with the Genome exhibition. In astonishing detail, The Human Body presents a look at the biological processes that takes place beneath the skin. IMAX tickets are sold separately.  For information, call 317-233-IMAX (4629).

Genomeis made possible by Pfizer Inc. and was produced by Clear Channel Exhibitions in collaboration with the National Human Genome Research Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health and Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research. Genome is sponsored locally by IU, its School of Medicine and Clarian Health Partners.

Click here to download admission discount coupon

Indiana State Museum Web site:
http://www.in.gov/ism/MuseumExhibits/SpecialExhibitsDetail.asp?ExhibitID=29

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