Biomedical Breakthroughs at the Melbourne Museum
From September this year, the Melbourne Museum will play host to the immersive exhibition ‘Biomedical Breakthroughs: A New View of You’.
Created in partnership with Melbourne-based medical research organisations CSL and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Biomedical Breakthroughs will cover topics such as the immune system, blood, antivenoms, infection, autoimmune diseases and curing cancer. Showcasing a mix of Melbourne’s historical and modern breakthroughs, and emphasising the biology inside all of us, it will look at the ways in which medical research has saved and enhanced the lives of billions around the world.
The exhibition will feature artist Drew Berry’s cellular animations in large-format projection. Giant inflatable blood cells will hang from the ceiling, while life-size ‘iBod’ animations that depict the circulatory system will demonstrate how antibiotics act and how antivenom does its work.
Through interactive technology, audiences can play a ‘space invaders’ game that demonstrates how the immune system creates a specialised army to fights off alien viruses. Visitors can also try their hand at curing cancer using a ‘molecule-spinner’ — the same computer technology that laboratory scientists use — to reveal how cancer cells can be identified, isolated and hopefully one day eradicated.
“Many do not realise the significant impact Melbourne’s research community has had on the biomedical field — from pioneering snake antivenom research 100 years ago, to Nobel Prize-winning theories in immunology, to today’s groundbreaking plasma and cancer therapies,” said Biomedical Breakthroughs Curator Johanna Simkin. “Melburnians will love this visual extravaganza; they will hear home-grown stories and can discover the intricate beauty of the biology inside them.”
The exhibition will be held at Melbourne Museum from 2 September 2016 to 20 January 2017. For more information, visit the Melbourne Museum website.
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