February 10, 2003
Displaying the Genome: The “Genomic Revolution” Exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History
by Robert LaSalle
In January of 2000, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City decided that the sequencing of the human genome – perhaps one of the most significant advances of our lifetime -- would make an interesting and compelling story for the general public. As a genome scientist working at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), this interest in making the science of the genome available to the general public both excited and alarmed me. Most of the exhibitions here are soundly and rigidly based on sample specimens: diamonds, pearls, amber, body art, dinosaurs and a host of other subjects that have been treated in temporary exhibitions over the past decade. However, the social and ethical ramifications of these other subjects pale in comparison to those raised by genomics. To ignore these issues in an exhibition on the subject, however, would have been a huge mistake.As the lead scientist involved in developing the genome exhibition for the general public, I decided that we needed to address first the incredibly basic question of what the public really knows. Consequently, the AMNH and Harris Polls International conducted a poll to understand the general public’s knowledge of the science involved in the sequencing of the human genome and the understanding of the implications of the information that would come from sequencing our genome. The results of this poll were enlightening and an important starting point for the AMNH in developing the exhibition.
The polls taught us for one that the general public’s understanding of the human genome was rudimentary at best. We also discovered that people were more interested in the medical, ethical, and legal ramifications of the subject than any other single issue. However, it was clear from the poll that the opinions of the general public about the genome were tainted by a general misunderstanding of the science involved.
Our task was huge – we had to develop an exhibition that could educate the general public about the science, but it was clear to us that we also needed to tie the visitor to the exhibition by playing off of their interest in the medical, legal and ethical ramifications. We decided to find ways of incorporating the visitor into the exhibition and address the social issues involved.
This focus on social issues and ethics complicated our task, because such topics are by their nature abstract and lack artifacts that make exhibit development easier. A wide range of design elements were developed by the AMNH Exhibitions Department, under the direction of David Harvey. As a scientist responsible for the content of the exhibition, it was my job to communicate the science to the model makers, graphics artists, editors, diorama makers, computer programmers, animators, and film makers.
The relationship that I developed with these very talented and creative people was a special and enduring one. We started with a crash courses on the genome and its social and ethical implications. Once the general information was absorbed by the exhibitions developers, we started the hard work of developing visuals, a consistent graphics display method, and a consistent editorial style.
We started by focusing on four things that we thought the public needed to absorb from the exhibition: namely, that we have genomes; that our genomes control many aspects of our biology; that we are developing the ability to use the genome information to do many novel things; and that we need to think hard about the things that we can change in nature and in society as a result of having information about our genomes.
All four of these important points were incorporated into the exhibition that opened at the AMNH in April 2001 and ran through January 1, 2002. The exhibition focused on the visitor and the impact these four points had on their lives.
We realized early on that the visitor needed a strong focal point to engage them as they viewed the exhibition. We decided that there was no better artifact for display than the visitors themselves. After all, it is the visitors’ genomes we are exhibiting, and it is the impact on the visitor that we want to make clear in the exhibit. Consequently, as the visitor walks through the exhibition, he or she learned more and more about their genomes (emphasis: we wanted to make it clear that it was their genetic make-up that was being talked about). This encouraged people to address the sticky questions facing them because of advances in technology. We also set up polling stations which allowed visitors to voice their knowledge and concerns about the human genome as a whole.
As examples of what the AMNH featured, I want to describe three exhibits in particular. Each captured images of the visitor and used these images to bring the visitor into the realm of the exhibition space. In “We Are All Alike,” an exhibit informs the visitor as to the number of genes they share with other organisms (e.g., 34% of a fly’s genes occur in humans; 15% of a plant’s genes occur in humans; most surprisingly, 90% and 98% of the genes of mice and chimps, respectively, also occur in humans). To accomplish the effect, used a video camera to capture the visitor’s real-time image. We then placed their image next to the organism of interest.
In “99.9%,” an exhibit used to detail the degree of similarity of all humans (any randomly chosen human being is no more than 0.1% different from the next, unless, of course, you are genetically related), we used an art piece by John Kalymnos where slowly rotating mirrors drew the images of the visitors onto a wall of mirrors and amplified and mixed facial images of all viewing the piece.
And in a concluding provocative piece to get the visitor to question the role of genes in their future, we used an art piece called “Drawing from Life, 2001” by Camille Utterback. Here, the visitor’s real-time image is processed through a computer program and his or her silhouette is filled with hundreds of tiny G’s A’s T’s and C’s (the alphabet of the DNA). Using the visitor themselves as artifacts on display helped us overcome our initial shortage of exhibition materials.
The exhibition of the difficult subjects concerning ethics and social issues was accomplished by maintaining a focus on the visitor. By using very clear descriptions of ethical problems, we were able to describe the problems inherent in the advancing technology with respect to gene therapy, genetic testing, genetically modified foods, reproductive technology and cloning, eugenics, and privacy issues. As an example, the ramifications of the technology with respect to genetically modified foods was discussed reportage-style, wherein both sides of the issue explained and discussed their views, with very provocatively designed exhibits of genetically modified organisms as a backdrop for their presentations.
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of doing an exhibition on sort was making sure that the information on controversial subjects was even-handed and clear. Many of the ramifications of the technology are controversial, and the tendency to over-interpret or cheerlead is one that needs to be checked at every step. A good sign that some semblance of even-handedness was accomplished with this exhibition is the fact that for some of the more controversial areas of the exhibition, such as genetically modified foods and gene therapy, advocacy groups from both extremes were critical of the presentations we made. For instance, some agro-tech companies questioned why we would even discuss some of the issues we did, such as the impact of genetically modified foods on the environment. Anti-GM advocacy groups, on the other hand, questioned why we would even describe the technology in as much detail as we did.
How we view the developments that will certainly follow the sequencing of the human is directly tied to how well we, as scientists and citizens, understand the science and the social ramifications of our work. The Genomic Revolution provided a first look at this important and socially relevant issue, and our exhibition tried to help make this information accessible. How we as humans respond to the challenges raised by the sequencing of genomes relies entirely on our understanding of the issues and the science involved.
Robert LaSalle was head curator of The Genomic Revolution exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, which took place between May 26, 2001 and January 1, 2002. He presently co-directs the museum’s Molecular Systematics Laboratories and curates its Division of Invertebrate Zoology.