DNA books
It can be difficult to convey the sheer size of the human genome. This is particularly important as we need to relate the huge effort, and the technology required, to examine the genome. We decided to print out the human genome as a collection of books, an exhibit first made by the Welcome Collection, and still on show there.
We have printed and bound the human genome in 130 hardback volumes to help explain the remainder of our exhibit. Most chromosomes have multiple volumes, but a few, such as chromosome Y, have only 1 volume. Different chromosomes are bound in different colour covers, with the colour corresponding to the colours used in “chromosome painting”. An example of chromosome painting is on the second page of every volume, together with explanatory notes.
We have opened up one of the books for you to look at. We have marked one of the variations associated with COPD. The other five are on different chromosomes on the shelf, which we have marked with bookmarks.
