The Interactive Diabetes Exhibit Kicks Off Its National Tour

The Liberty Science Center in Jersey City (in the New York metropolitan area) will be featuring what sounds like quite a compelling diabetes exhibit from April 1 to May 16 called Diabetes: A Deeper Look. Visitors enter the exhibit through a 40-foot blood vessel, lit with 40,000 LED lights and echoing with the beat of a heart. They then proceed through an enormous cell that demonstrates how insulin facilitates the uptake of glucose into cells. Various exhibits within the model blood vessel teach visitors about the effects of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the role of insulin, the importance of diet and exercise, and the medications used to manage diabetes. One particularly creative exhibit – called “Who Gets Diabetes” – uses photo-morphing technology to show how diabetes affects people in all age groups, of all races, and from all backgrounds. At the end of the blood vessels is a display showcasing the drug development process all the way from basic research to production of medication. The exhibit could be a terrific way to educate children, and we highly recommend that anybody in the New York metropolitan area take the opportunity to give their kids this unique and engaging look at diabetes. The national tour continues in 12 US destinations through 2012, next heading to Orlando. Diabetes: A Deeper Look was developed by the Detroit Science Center Designs and Exhibits and is sponsored by sanofi-aventis US. --NW