Missouri, USA: Discovery Center offering exhibit on early stem cell research

The Springfield News-Leader
Published September 25, 2006

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The state’s three largest science museums, including the Discovery Center in Springfield, are offering an identical exhibit discussing the science behind early stem cell research to help Missourians make informed decisions when they vote on a proposal to protect such research in the state.

The Discovery Center also had a year-long stem cell exhibit in the BodyWorks gallery until it was replaced in April with a new exhibit about DNA.

The new stem cell exhibit is in a four-sided kiosk includes charts, graphics and a five-minute video explaining the science behind research on early stem cells. It’s in the “chromosome gallery” on the third floor of the center’s new addition, where it will remain for the time being, said executive director Emily Fox.

The exhibit acknowledges that some people oppose the research while others support it, but it tries to stay of out the political debate, said Ray Shubinski, director of the Science City and attractions at Union Station in Kansas City. It presents the scientific view of the research and the potential for curing a wide range of diseases.

“We had the feeling that there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about stem-cell research,” Shubinski said. “We hope to get information to people so they can be better informed about what the issues are.”

The St. Louis Science Center also is displaying the exhibit — the first joint project of the state’s three largest science museums, Shubinski said.

The Discovery Center, like the other museums, routinely feature scientific topics that are in the news, Fox said.

“We’re a scientific facility,” she added. “It’s our mission and our role to help people become better informed on scientific issues that impact our health and well-being, whether it’s the bird flu, or West nile (virus) or stem cells.

“We may not answer all their questions, but at least we’ve given them a foundation and more knowledge about how to do more research on their own.”

Fox said she has not heard any complaints about last year’s or the current stem cell exhibits. “It may have spurred a discussion at home, which is what we want,” she said.

Early, or embyronic, stem cell research has been a divisive issue in the state this election year. State voters will decide in November whether to adopt a constitutional amendment that would guarantee that Missouri scientists could conduct any stem-cell research allowed by federal law.

No one connected to the Nov. 7 ballot issue contributed to the exhibit, Shubinski said.

The exhibit refers to early stem-cell research as the new frontier in medicine. The video includes a public television report showing a rat whose hindquarters were paralyzed. After human early stem cells became nerve cells and were injected into the rat, the rat regained control of its bladder and much of the use of its legs.

The video said research on adult stem cells had produced treatments for leukemia and lymphoma. But most scientists endorse research on both early and adult stem cells because both types of cells have different potential for treating disease, the video said.