In this Easter-themed trail, you will visit Future of Food (Level 1; Free, ticketed), Medicine: The Wellcome Collections (Level 1); Making the Modern World (Level 0) and the Space shop (Level 0).
STOP 1: A DNA-EDITED EGG IN FUTURE OF FOOD (LEVEL 1)
Head upstairs via lift or stairs A (right in front of you as you enter the museum), and start your journey in our free exhibition Future of Food, where you can find out how growing food, cooking and eating might change in the next few years.
After discovering how food used to be produced, head into the biotech section of the exhibition which explains how we can use biology to make new foods without costing the Earth. Towards the end of the room, you will spot your first egg of the trail next to a chicken.
Visitor looking at a flu-resistant chicken in Future of Food
For thousands of years, humans have bred plants and animals for useful characteristics called traits. Today, scientists can speedily engineer crops and livestock to be climate resilient and nature friendly. Scientists used this syringe and eggcup to inject an egg with DNA-edited cells. These cells contain altered genes that prevent bird flu virus from replicating, edits which take effect in the offspring – the chicken on display.
STOP 2: CHOCOLATE TO HELP THE MEDICINE GO DOWN IN MR GIBSON’S PHARMACY (LEVEL 1)
Exit the exhibition and head into the Medicine galleries on the same floor. Cross the first galleries and go around the cabinet of curiosities: once you reach the hospital beds, go down the left side of the galleries until your reach the pharmacy at the end.
Step through the wooden doors and inside a real Victorian pharmacy: you can see what Mr Gibson used to offer clients, from eye tests to medicine. There are also products you might not have expected: can you spot the chocolate bars on the left side of the pharmacy? Sadly these can’t be eaten!
Chocolate used to be seen as a product with medicinal properties, either to help patients gain weight after illnesses or for its therapeutic values. It was also used to mask the bitter taste of other drugs and to help the medicine go down!
Among other things you might not expect to find in a pharmacy, you might spot poison vials in Mr Gibson’s. Poisons were – and in some cases still are – available for purchase in pharmacies and chemists because, in small doses and in the right circumstances, they provide medicinal benefits. They were also available because they were poisonous, which could be useful for a rat or pest problem.
STOP 3: A RABBIT HIDING ON A STATUE IN MEDICINE (LEVEL 1)
Step out of the pharmacy and turn left until you’re in front of a dark brown sculpture representing a female figure with a large dress and a halo.
This is Santa Medicina, part surgeon part saint, combining objects and imagery from different faiths and medical practices. The stethoscope becomes a string of prayer beads, the head mirror a halo.
Some of the amulets that cover Santa Medicina’s skirts are drawn from objects in the galleries. Can you spot the little rabbit on the skirts of the dress?
You can find this little rabbit on the left side of Santa Medicina when facing the sculpture. It represents an object from the collection called a netsuke – a form of miniature sculpture that originated in 17th century Japan. Typically, these objects were used as toggles and hung from strings attached to medicine boxes, tobacco pouches, and money purses worn from the sash of a kimono, a traditional form of Japanese dress.
These beautiful objects regularly included symbols from Japanese mythology. The rabbit pictured here, grinding with a mortar and pestle is likely the ‘Hare in the Moon’, a popular character from East Asian folklore. The tale says that you can spot the rabbit’s outline in the dark markings of the Moon, where, in the Japanese version of the story, he lives and grinds mochi (a Japanese rice cake).
STOP 4: SPACE CHOCOLATE IN THE MODEL WALKWAY (LEVEL 0)
Please note this stop does not have step-free access. Head back down to Level 0 via Lifts or Stairs E and turn left to go into Making the Modern World. Walk under the blue and silver Spirit of Innovation plane and turn left to take the stairs leading you up to the Model Walkway. Walk down until you reach number 116, which will be on the lower shelf.
This is a model of the Apollo 11 lunar module, which was built after the spacecraft made the first moon landing in 1969. It was made by a 12-year-old boy who, like many others of his age, followed the Apollo missions on television and then built kits of the spacecraft on the kitchen table. The lunar surface of this model is an interesting shade of light blue because the youngster lacked a pot of grey paint. The model’s descent stage was similarly painted a misleading black and white but was later improved with foil wrappers from a well-known brand of chocolate. The boy drifted away from the space programme for many years but now works as Deputy Keeper of Technologies and Engineering, looking after the Science Museum’s space objects.
STOP 5: AMUSEABLES BOILED EGG SCIENTIST IN THE SPACE SHOP (LEVEL 0)
Head back down the stairs into the Making the Modern World gallery and make your way to the back of the museum where you will find the Space gallery. Shop and café.
This Easter, you can discover the new Jellycat Space Crew in our special themed Space shop here at the museum. Among the new characters, the Amuseable Boiled Egg Scientist specialises in all things stellar, peacefully exploring the depths of the galaxy to locate and befriend newfound cosmic companions.
Please note that free timed entry slots are required to visit the Space shop. Purchases are limited to a maximum of two of each character.
BONUS STOP: FREE ACTIVITIES FOR SPACE EGGSPLORERS
Inspired by the cosmic space crew? Why not take part in one of our free space-themed activities taking place at the museum for the Easter holidays (Saturday 28 March to Sunday 12th April, various times).
A packed programme of free activities include live science demonstrations in The Space Show guided journeys through the Solar System in the Space gallery and the chance for little ones to create their own aviation adventures in the Once Upon a Story workshops.
The Science Museum is open seven days a week. This Easter, the museum will open an hour earlier from 09.00 until 18.00, Monday 30 March to Friday 10 April, giving visitors even more time to explore. Head to our website to pre-book your free tickets.