The Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery is delighted to announce the launch of a major new publication by the artist Jacqueline Donachie and Professor Darren G. Monckton of the Division of Molecular Genetics at the University of Glasgow.

The publication accompanies the exhibition and film currently on show at the Hunterian, Tomorrow Belongs to Me, new work by Jacqueline Donachie made in collaboration with Professor Darren G. Monckton. The Exhibition runs until 2 September 2006.

The exhibition, film and book are the result of a five-year collaboration between artist Jacqueline Donachie and Darren G. Monckton, Professor of Human Genetics. They have worked together since 2001 on a series of projects, following the diagnosis of myotonic dystrophy, a form of inherited muscular dystrophy, in the artist's family.

The exhibition looks at anticipation, the phenomenon of certain forms of inherited genetic illness worsening as they are passed on from generation to generation. Illnesses that display this phenomenon most clearly are myotonic dystrophy, fragile X syndrome and Huntington disease. The film is based on a series of interviews with eleven scientists living in cities across three continents who were involved in the key research that proved pivotal in establishing the idea of anticipation as a true biological effect. The project has been funded by a SciArt production award from the Wellcome Trust.

The book is 244pp and contains full transcripts of each of the interviews plus a new commissioned essay by Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt, documentation of the exhibition and film, and a timeline of historical developments in the field. It is designed by Sarah Tripp and published in an edition of 1,500 copies.

There will be a reception at the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, on 30 August from 5.30 ﾖ 7.30 pm to celebrate the launch of this publication with the opportunity to have a last look at the exhibition before it closes on 2 September.

Martin Shannon (m.shannon@admin.gla.ac.uk)

First published: 18 August 2006