Sendai City Science Museum permanent displays "ATGC Nano Journey"

The Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo), which aims to restore local medical care following the damage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and to develop new medical care in response to large-scale information technology, is building a biobank that combines medical information and genomic information.
Until now, the differences between people for whom the same medicine for the same disease works and those for whom it doesn't have been explained using vague terms such as "constitution" because the details were not fully understood. However, since the completion of the human genome sequence, it has gradually become clear that minute individual differences in genome sequence can create differences in "constitution."

Since 2013, ToMMo has been conducting cohort surveys in Tohoku, collecting various information and biological samples such as blood from many people, analyzing them, and developing a genetic analysis tool called "Japonica Array®" that can analyze Japanese genome information with high accuracy and low cost. In order to create the next generation of medical care, it is necessary to collect even larger amounts of data with the cooperation of a wider range of generations.

To raise awareness of these activities, ToMMo has set up a permanent displays in the "Life and Science - Wonder Science Room" on the third floor of the Sendai Science Museum. Our company is in charge of planning and concept design displays.

To convey the message in an easy-to-understand way, the museum introduces cells and genomes through story-based graphics and touch panel games in which visitors shrink down and travel inside the human body, and introduces the next-generation medical treatments that ToMMo aims to provide, tailored to each individual. It also conveys a message to many people: "You are one of a kind in the world, so cherish your differences."

ToMMo's goal of creating the next generation of medical care requires collecting genomes from many people and analyzing minute individual differences in sequences. To raise awareness of their activities and gain cooperation, it is necessary to communicate the often complex nature of DNA and genomes in an easy-to-understand manner to many people of all ages. This time, they were looking to us for that part.

The museum uses story-like graphics like a picture book, in which visitors gradually become smaller and enter a cell to travel to the DNA and genome, expressing DNA and genomes, which can be difficult to understand. A turn-type graphic made of sewn fabric is also used to actively search for the answer. In addition, an original game on a large touch panel monitor was used to convey information while playing, such as why some people respond to the same medicine for the same disease while others do not.