The Who Am I? gallery is now open at the Science Museum

The Science Museum launched its newly refurbished Who Am I? gallery in June 2010, exploring the science of identity through intriguing objects, provocative artworks and hands-on exhibits.

I edited the object labels for the new displays, and used my lack of knowledge of biology and genetics throughout. I think it forced me to make sure all the text really made sense to me.

It was also crucial to keep the focus on identity and how each story related to the overall subject of what science can – and still can’t – tell us about what makes us unique.

You can see some Who Am I? objects and labels online at http://tiny.cc/whoamI

There are stories about racist intelligence testing from the 1930s; a worm that has beaten ageing, and a new way of reading the fleeting facial expressions that reveal our true emotions.

The gallery team also worked with teenagers to produce a case display about sleep and dreaming through a series of workshops in which I acted as text consultant.