U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | National Institutes of Health
To Potter, science was driven by curiosity, not competition, and the only goal was to answer questions about the nature of life.
NIH's first supercomputer, the Cray X-MP/22, was the world's fastest supercomputer from 1983-1986, and the first one devoted solely to biomedical research. Both the physical and virtual exhibits are under development, but you can still see the Cray at its exhibit site located in Building 50.
This exhibit explores the Nobel Prize-winning work of NHLBI's Marshall Nirenberg, who deciphered the genetic code in the early 1960s with the collaboration of his NIH colleagues.
Accomplished biochemists and beloved mentors, Thressa and Earl Stadtman have worked at NIH for more than half a century.
In the 1950s, the NIH's Dr. Robert Bowman developed a sensitive instrument called the spectrophotofluorometer, or “SPF”, that allowed scientists to use fluorescence as a way to identify and measure tiny amounts of substances in the body. This exhibit explores the instrument and its use in scientific studies ranging from anti-depressant medication to AIDS research and the Human Genome Project.
This exhibition describes the discoveries that led to the heart-lung machine and open heart surgery, the number of experimental replacement valves that were invented and implanted, the role that NIH played in the 1960s and 70s in developing and testing these medical devices, and the public safety and regulatory responsibilities that were entrusted to the FDA.
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This Siemens 1-A Electron Microscope was used for over three decades by Dr. Albert Kapikian, NIAID. The instrument was used to detect and characterize various viruses.
This exhibit places some examples of cutting-edge research, funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, in historical context. The virtual exhibit is under construction but you can visit the NIBIB Emerging Technology Exhibit in person in Building 31.
This looks at the history of the home pregnancy test and examines its place in our culture. Research that led to a sensitive, accurate pregnancy test was done by scientists in the Reproductive Research Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health.
The story of how pain research evolved at NIDCR.
This exhibition celebrates Christian Anfinsen's legacy by illuminating just a few of his contributions to science and society.
Martin Rodbell and his colleagues discovered a mechanism that transformed our understanding of how cells respond to signals. In a series of pioneering experiments conducted at the NIH, Rodbell studied hormones--substances which have specific effects on cells' activity. He won the 1994 Nobel Prize for this work.
This exhibit tells how 20th century researchers at the National Institutes of Health created new opiate drugs and developed a synthetic source for morphine and codeine -- and why.
How medical researchers study diseases, by answering three basic questions. Focuses on Dr. Roscoe Brady's team at NINDS and their work with Gaucher disease.
Howard Bartner, an NIH medical illustrator, devoted 40 years to portraying human anatomy in his drawings.
A collection of 24 medical posters drawn by artists at the NIH, representing topics from arthritis to women's health.
