Chromos VR at Science Museum Lates

It was a great pleasure to be a member of the Chromos VR team at Science Museum Lates. The event happens on the last Wednesday evening of each month and is held at the Science Museum, London.  The theme for September was Biology, so it was great to take our work from the Babraham Institute to share.

The Chromos project has been a scientific and artistic collaboration between scientists at Babraham Institute, a visual artist, and a musician. The idea is to visualise the 3D structure of chromosomes – the pieces of DNA inside a cell – using virtual reality (VR). The virtual show is  accompanied by a piece of music inspired by the DNA folding process. 

Throughout the night, Chromos drew a lot of attention and I believe it was one of the most attractive projects presented in the museum. This allowed me and the other members of the team to talk about the science of the project with many people. It was great to see how many people were interested enough to queue for a chance to try the VR. For about an hour, I was in charge of helping the participants to put on the VR headset and the headphones and guiding them through their experience. It was fairly challenging but very rewarding and most participants were amazed when they watched how chromosomes are organised inside the nucleus.

I am happy that I took the opportunity to be involved in this event, where I could talk to people from diverse backgrounds about the science that I am passionate about. It was also great practice for improving my communication and engagement skills.

If you’d like to find out more about the Chromos project, you can read about the work here and find the video and music here.