"Structures of Life" traveling exhibit at Laboratory's Bradbury Science Museum through September

Contact: Steve Sandoval, steves@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9206 (00-115)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Aug. 21, 2000 -- "Structures of Life," a traveling exhibit about how instruments helped reveal the molecular structure of life is on display through September in the Bradbury Science Museum of the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The exhibit is on loan to the Laboratory from the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia, said Pat Berger of the Bradbury Science Museum, part of Los Alamos' Community Relations Office. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

"Instruments, beginning with microscopes, helped chemistry and biology develop and merge into molecular biology and biotechnology," said Berger.

Some of the material presented in the exhibit includes information about how X-ray crystallography works; an enzyme, ATCase, that displays the "feedback" mechanism by which many life processes turn on and off; and how viruses are now used to introduce genes into cells in the latest techniques of biotechnology, she said.

"Structures of Life" can be seen during regular museum hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There is no admission charge to the museum.

The Chemical Heritage Foundation, established by the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1982, seeks to strengthen public understanding of the chemical sciences and technologies.

A second traveling exhibit from the Chemical Heritage Foundation, "Chemistry is Electric," will be at the Bradbury Science Museum in November and December.

The Bradbury Science Museum is located on Central Avenue and 15th Street in downtown Los Alamos.

For more information, contact Berger at 665-0896.

More news releases from the Community and External Relations Division (CER)