Education

Smithsonian NHGRI Genome Exhibition

Conceptual sketch of planned Smithsonian genome exhibition
In 2013, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. will launch a high-tech, high-intensity exhibition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of researchers producing the first complete human genome sequence — the genetic blueprint of the human body. The exhibition is a collaboration of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health.



About the Exhibition

About the Exhibition's Funding

Funds for the Smithsonian-NHGRI exhibition and related initiatives are being raised privately by both the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

Already, Life Technologies Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Life Technologies Corp. of Carlsbad, Calif., has pledged $3 million to fund the production of the exhibition itself. Additionally, more than $500,000 has been raised through the Foundation for The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., and from the Brin Wojcicki Foundation of Palo Alto, Calif.; the Celgene Corporation of Summit, N.J.; Pacific Biosciences of Menlo Park, Calif., Pac Bio president and chief executive officer Mike Hunkapiller, Ph.D., and his wife Beth; the New England Biolabs of Ipswich, Mass.; and from Genentech, Inc. of South San Francisco, Calif.

For more on support at the Foundation for NIH, see: Programs in Development: Human Genome Exhibition [fnih.org]

For more on support at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, see: Support curiosity, discovery and learning [support.si.edu]

About the 10th Anniversary and the Human Genome Project

In April 2003, the International Human Genome Project, led in the United States by the National Institutes of Health, was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. For the first time, anyone could freely read the fundamental instruction set needed to make a human body.

Beginning in early 2013, the National Human Genome Research Institute will organize a series of scientific symposia and other public events to celebrate the HGP's completion and the launch of the genome exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History.

A list of events will be added to these pages as they are finalized.

Advisory Board

Learn about the people who are helping to create the new exhibition:

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Last Updated: August 1, 2012