Center for PostNatural History facts for kids
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Front of the Museum in 2022
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| Location | 4913 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15224 |
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| Founder | Richard Pell |
| Nearest parking | On street |
The Center for PostNatural History is a special museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It's not like a regular natural history museum that shows animals and plants as they are found in nature. Instead, this museum focuses on living things that humans have changed on purpose.
These changes are passed down through generations. This can happen through selective breeding, like when people choose specific dogs to breed for certain traits. It also includes genetic engineering, which is when scientists change an organism's DNA (its genetic code). This idea of human-altered nature is called "postnatural."
The museum's goal is to learn more about how humans, nature, and new technologies like biotechnology connect. They collect and show living, preserved, and documented examples of these "postnatural" organisms.
Who Started the Museum?
The Center for PostNatural History was founded by a person named Richard Pell. He is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
What Can You See?
The museum has many interesting exhibits. You might see things like:
- GloFish: These are fish that glow! They have genes from sea coral added to them.
- 'Biosteel' goats: These goats were changed to produce spider silk proteins in their milk. This milk can then be used to make super strong materials.
- Transgenic fruit flies: These are tiny flies that have had their genes changed by scientists.
- Silkie chicken: This chicken looks very fluffy, almost like it has fur. It was bred over time to keep a special gene that gives it this unique look.
When you visit, you can listen to explanations about the exhibits through wired telephone handsets. The museum uses different ways to show things, like photos, stuffed animals (taxidermy), and detailed scenes (dioramas). They even have some living exhibits!
The Center also has a big online collection. You can find details about past and current exhibits there. They also share information about their specimens, archives, and events.
Sometimes, the museum creates special traveling exhibits. These can be shown at other museums and galleries around the world. For example, their exhibits have been displayed in Amsterdam and Berlin.
How the Museum Looks and Feels
The Center for PostNatural History is designed to be very thoughtful and careful. They use simple, neutral language to describe their exhibits. This helps visitors think deeply about the specimens and ideas, instead of just reacting to words that might have a negative meaning.
The museum wants you to think about how different lives can exist together. They ask important questions about what these changes mean for living things, places, and even for how we think about science and society.
You can also find cool stuff related to the museum's collections. They sell books, T-shirts, postcards, and even 3D prints of their archives.
In the News
In 2015, the Center for PostNatural History was featured in National Geographic magazine. This was a big deal and helped more people learn about the museum!
