Opening of Genetics, the new permanent exhibition

Mendel Museum has been presenting the life and work of Gregor Johann Mendel, the “father of genetics”, for years. The museum is located in the authentic premises of the Augustinian Abbey in Old Brno, where Mendel lived and worked.

At present, the museum is preparing a new, modern and interactive exhibition linked to the existing display of Mendel’s life. The new exhibition will provide basic information about Mendel’s experiments and findings and introduce the sciences of genetics and molecular biology.

As close to understanding genetics as you can get...

The exhibition is designed for secondary school students, giving them the opportunity for revision and explanation of what they learnt beyond the standard scope of the curriculum. At the same time, it should attract and inspire potential future scientists.

However, most exhibits will be comprehensible to common visitors whom they will facilitate better understanding of the nature of heredity, exploring the genetics that is all around them or getting a glimpse of modern biology studied at the university. Visitors will get hands-on experience of genetics using games and applications, but also interactive elements. The exhibition will also offer activities for younger visitors so that their company may have a moment to read interesting texts on their own.

Achievements of the “father of genetics” and his successors lie open

The new exhibition will include a complete overhaul or the Nobelists’ Room, so that the lives, research and signatures of scientists who followed Mendel’s discoveries may be presented with greater dignity.

The main part of the exhibition is devoted to genetics. The first section is the cell, its functions, structure and variability. Beginning with the chromosome model, the DNA unfolds to the core part, which naturally belongs to Mendel. Visitors will familiarize themselves with explanation of Mendel’s experiments, human genetics or exceptions to Mendel’s laws currently known to modern science.

The innovative exhibition is concluded with modern genetics and molecular biology section mapping the path from the DNA to the protein. You will also see a laboratory and get an explanation of the frequently used terms of GMO or genome sequencing. Current scientific topics are represented by interdisciplinary research on Gregor Johann Mendel’s person.