‘The question from which this historical-scientific exhibition starts is the first evidence, which all of us experience: our life had a starting point in time. There was a time when we did not exist, then we came to life in the shape in which we find ourselves, through a gradual and continuous process, which is lost in the limited memory of when we were young. But when exactly did our life start? With the use of observation and reason, the visitor is guided towards the search for a correct answer through steps which go from ancient Egypt and Israel, to the most recent scientific discoveries in genetics, embryology and ante-natal medicine. The visitor will be able to recognise a substantial continuity of development between the product of fertilisation (the zygote or first cell of our organism), the embryo (up to the eighth week), the foetus (starting from the ninth week) and the new-born baby. Each of these is already “one of us”, because each one of us has been – in a certain moment of life – “one of them”. Through the wonder in front of human life at the dawn of its individual development, the exhibition (staged with the help of the Regione Emilia Romagna) gives answers to many questions: how does fertilisation happen and how long does it last? How big is our genetic heritage? Why is the embryo not rejected by the mother’s body? How are twins formed? When does our heart start to beat? How does the communication between embryo and mother occur? How can one see an embryo or a foetus? What can be done when the foetus is ill?’