|
RECEPTION CELEBRATES OPENING OF "GREGOR MENDEL: PLANTING THE SEEDS OF GENETICS"
 | Col. Charles Pemble, left, and
Col. Randy Treiber (RET), right,
were among the more than 100
guests in attendance.
|
An opening reception for the museum’s newest exhibition, “Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics,” drew a crowd of more than 100 guests who explored the life and work of the 19th-century friar and former high school teacher whose experiments were ignored by the scientific community for decades.
The approximately 100-artifact exhibition traces the rise of genetics through its major milestones—from the discovery of chromosomes to the famous DNA model of James Watson and Francis Crick. While very few of Mendel’s papers or personal possessions were kept, his botanical specimens, scientific instruments, photographs, correspondence, original manuscripts, journal, books and gardening tools are on display.
 | Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., the museum’s director, left,
and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the
Czech Republic Jaroslav Kurfurst, right, address the
museum’s guests as key note speakers for the opening
of “Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics”
on display in Washington, D.C. | The Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the Czech Republic Jaroslav Kurfurst spoke at the reception along with Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., the museum’s director. Kurfurst recognized the Czech-born father of modern genetics and described the exhibition as “truly a learning experience.”
“This is a once in a lifetime presentation about genetics and how we have come to learn about this science we use with such increasing achievement and expectation,” said Noe.
“Our national medical museum mission is never better fulfilled than when we weave together medicine, science, history and art into exciting exhibits and
 | Jason Choi, a National DNA Day High
School Essay Contest finalist and student
at Montgomery Blair High School in
Silver Spring, MD., center, pauses in the
exhibition in front of the mural of the Abbey
library with his mother Insun Choi, left,
and teacher Patricia Miller, right, for a photo |
programs that allow our visitors to gain an appreciation for these National Historic Landmark holdings, and merge pioneering
research with history that surrounds Mendel and his intellectual descendents.”
The exhibition incorporates five videos and ten hands-on interactive displays to make the fundamentals of genetics accessible to everyone. Visitors can recreate the steps of Mendel’s experiment; identify their own dominant and recessive traits; look through a microscope to compare what scientists were able to see at different points in history; and analyze DNA sequences like modern-day scientists.
A highly unusual and innovative feature of this exhibition is the integration of contemporary works of art that explore the subjects of genetics. One featured artwork includes Christine Borland’s “A Treasury of Human Inheritance, Entres Case,” a mobile made of polished agate stones representing five generations of the Entres family, which had various symptoms of Huntington Disease. Each agate section is unique in its configuration of crystals and rings, and the overall pattern represents various symptoms of the condition.
 | Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., the museum’s director,
plants pea seedlings commemorating the
opening of the exhibit “Gregor Mendel:
Planting the Seeds of Genetics” during the
ceremonial “Planting of the Peas” and ribbon
cutting. | Before the exhibition opened to the public on April 28, members of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology community were invited to a ceremonial “Planting of the Peas” and ribbon cutting to commemorate the opening of the reception. Participants were welcomed to explore the exhibition after the pea planting.
This exhibition and it national tour were developed by The Field Museum, Chicago, in partnership with the Vereinigung zur Förderung der Genomforschung, Vienna, Austria, and The Mendel Museum, Brno, Czech Republic.
The exhibition debuted at The Field Museum, Chicago, before embarking on its national tour. After closing at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, its tour will continue to Columbus, Ohio, Memphis, Tenn., and Philadelphia. The exhibition will be on display through Sept. 16, 2007.
|
