In 1998, the Museum of Man and Nature, and four other museums in Germany (3) and Switzerland (1), simultaneously opened exhibitions under the general title of “Gene Worlds”. After running for a year, the Munich exhibition, with the subtitle “Reaching for the ABC of Life”, was modified and transformed into a permanent exhibition. Following a second remodelling the current version has been on display since 2004.

Access to this complex area of genetic science is conveyed through numerous objects, including models, dermoplastics, reproductions of plants, gene technological equipment, etc., together with a large number of audio-visual presentations and interactive monitor programs.

A DNA molecule, which serves in every living cell as a carrier of genetic information, dominates the form and content of this exhibition. Surrounding the DNA model, which has been magnified five hundred million times, the information provided includes the structure of DNA; how the molecule stores information; how it “copies” itself before every cell division and how the information is “translated”.

At this point we have already arrived in the middle of modern genetics. As a supplement we have added a short presentation of some of the fundamentals of classic cell and reproductive biology.

In addition to exhibits covering other topics, Gregor Mendel’s heredity experiments are described, as are the introduction of the fruit fly Drosophila into genetic research and the discovery of the structure of DNA or the invention of the processes of gene technology. Other important organisms which have helped to open the door to genetic research techniques are introduced along with Drosophila. These include T4 virus (bacteriophage), the bacterium Escherichia coli, the nematode Caenorhabditis, and the small flowering plant Arabidopsis.

Another important theme is the application of gene technology, for example, in the production of food or medicines. The exhibition also deals with humans as objects of genetic research and genetic engineering, from the deciphering of the human genome to the ethical problems which could emerge in the future or are already present today.