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What is biotechnology?

Morehead Planetarium and Science center has created a Science 360 series designed to educate its visitors about biotechnology and its uses. Biotechnology is a collection of technologies that use living cells and/or biological molecules to solve problems and make useful products. Biotechnology makes use of processes ranging from fermentation to make beer, to genetic engineering and cloning.

Why is biotechnology important?

We interact with the products of biotechnology everyday. It's not just the cutting-edge of scientific research, biotechnology is in our food, in our medicines and even in our forensics. Without biotechnology there would be no way to produce insulin for diabetics or link DNA to the scence of a crime. Biotechnology isn't just everywhere. It's a big deal.

The Science 360 Biotechnology Series

Funded by the NC Biotechnology Center the Science 360 Biotechnology Series is comprised of three different interactive presentations that are shown in MPSC's NASA Digital Theater.

Science 360: Designer Foods
Learn the story of one particular genetically modified crop, Bt. corn, and discover why scientists are interested in genetically modifying crops.

Science 360: Genetic Engineering
One of the earliest and most useful applications of genetic engineering was genetically modified bacteria that could produce life-saving insulin for people with diabetes. Learn about the techniques used to make these life-saving bugs possible.

Science 360: Stem Cells Demystified
We hear about stem cells in the news, but what's the science behind the headlines? Explore what stem cells are, why scientists want to study them and why some stem cell research is controversial.

Educational resources:

• National Science Education Standards
• Key Vocabulary
• Lesson Links
• Resources for Teachers
• Resources for Students

Funding for this program is provided by an Educational Enhancement Grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

Morehead offers seasonal schedules of Science 360 shows to the public. Follow this link to see the current schedule of public shows at Morehead.

Please note that seasonal schedules change four times each year (spring, summer, fall and holiday), and some shows are not offered during every schedule.

In addition to its public shows, Morehead offers shows during the week especially for school classes and other field trip groups. These school shows do not appear on the seasonal schedule but do appear on Morehead's daily calendar.

If seats are available, the public may purchase tickets to school shows.

However, school groups with reserved seating have first priority on any remaining seats (for example, if extra chaperons attend), so Morehead cannot guarantee that public seats will be available for school shows.