Humans' living creations put on display | Science News - 1 views
www.sciencenews.org/...9-living-creations-put-display
humans living creations display knowledge research controversy
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Others would say she was a modern wonder. She was genetically engineered by a Canadian company to produce milk that could be spun into spider silk.
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As visitors pass through a curtain to enter the darkened exhibition space, they see a spectacularly fluffy white ornamental chicken and an aquarium full of glowing fish
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But Pell does not intend the museum to be merely a cabinet of curiosities or a freak show. Visitors will not find rants that drum up fears of “Frankenfoods.”
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Language used throughout the center is artfully neutral, and each specimen is accompanied by only a few basic facts and a brief story highlighting a social issue. One display shows dried leaves from a transgenic American chestnut, engineered with a wheat gene to resist the fungal blight that nearly eradicated wild populations of the tree. An audio guide recounts how researchers decided to use the wheat gene instead of one from frogs, for fear of controversy.
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The museum’s approach could frustrate science enthusiasts when social and ethical questions push interesting scientific details into the background.