Web-based Exhibit on Genetics Research Now Available

Titled “Revolution in Progress: Human Genetics and Medical Research,” the exhibit looks specifically at how this research will help in the prevention and treatment of disease. It also provides information on what DNA, genes, and chromosomes do in our bodies, explains how basic research has led to a better understanding of genetic research, and discusses the scope, purpose, and techniques of the Human Genome Project to map and decode our genes. The exhibit poses such questions as: How do genes cause disease? Can gene therapy work? How do we manipulate genes and should we?

“Genetics research is producing discoveries that have profound implications for our society,” says historian Dr. Victoria Harden, the Director of the Office of NIH History and its Stetten Museum of Medical Research. “This research will affect everyone’s life, and we must struggle individually and as a nation with the ethical questions regarding testing, medical insurance and job discrimination, and gene therapy and eugenics. I’m excited that more people, especially teachers and students, will now be able to see this exhibit on the Internet.”

CONTACT:

NIH Office of the Director (OD).
Office of NIH History
Sarah Leavitt
(301) 496-6610

Message posted by: Rashmi Nemade