Room 1

The first exhibition room is dedicated to Achille Sclavo and his “creation”: the Istituto Sieroterapico e Vaccinogeno Toscano. Taking a step back in time, visitors will be introduced, through historical artefacts, graphical and multimedia content, to the historical and hygienic context of the early 20th century, at a time when the Institute was embarking on its first activities.

Room 2

The second room is dedicated to the transformation of Istituto Sclavo: from a small family-run laboratory to a genuine company, which over time established itself at international level. The dozens of products launched, the advertising communications and the expansion of the industrial citadel are all proof of this. This space also looks at the story that connects Siena with Albert Sabin, whose chose to entrust the production of his polio vaccine to the Sclavo.

Room 2 seeks to underline the important contribution of microscopy to our understanding of pathogens and the development of vaccines as a result. Thanks to increasingly powerful tools scientists have been able to observe the most infinitesimal of objects with increasing clarity and identify bacteria, viruses and even single molecules with the most recent microscopy techniques.

On one side of the table visitors will find three stations where they can observe the slides which, once placed on the multimedia table, will show how we have been able to get an increasingly better view of pathogens over the years thanks to modernisation.

The slides are also the focal point of an interactive game: questions on viruses and bacteria will appear on the monitor and visitors will have to identify the correct answer, which will be accompanied by a short explanation. On the other side of the table is a graphic which explains the concept of “infinitesimal”, comparing the dimensions of a cell with those of a city in order to convey the resolution capacity of modern microscopes.

Cinema Room

The exhibition continues with the “cinema room”: a small interactive space where visitors can watch different audiovisual content: animated infographic videos which trace the birth and evolution of vaccines and also archive films and interviews with former Sclavo employees. These short films will introduce the theme of the next room, focused on the present and future of vaccinology.

Room 4

This room looks at the most topical aspects of vaccines and their future prospects. Thanks to a scrolling multimedia bar, visitors can get familiar with all of the phases of the vaccine research, development and production process performed in our R&D labs and at the Rosia production site.

Educational, but not only: fun is guaranteed thanks to the two videogame stations where visitors can help Professor Sclavo defeat viruses and bacteria, and the workstation, with enjoyable quizzes with questions on the content of the previous rooms.

Room 5

The final exhibit of the Siena Vaccine Science Center is a genuine virtual tour, to be enjoyed thanks to OculusGo technology. A voice guide and high-res videos, recorded using stereoscopic 360° technology, will enable visitors to immerse themselves in the laboratories and production areas of the Siena and Rosia sites to get a close-up view of the activities and processes that take place in controlled and protected environments.