Bodies

I was recently in New York and got to see the Bodies Exhibition which is touring the US right now. For those of you that don’t know its an exhibit featuring preserved, dissected, bodies. They are preserved by a method known as polymer preservation whereby the tissues become saturated with polymer resin so that they look like plastic.

There is a lot of controversy about this, and similar exhibitions, regarding where the bodies come from. They are from China and dissected at the Dalian Medial University, however it is believed that some maybe executed prisoners used without informed consent, which is of-course unethical and against Chinese law.

Regardless of what you think though it was a fantastic exhibit to see. As a biologist who is no stranger to what body parts look like, seeing the whole body with organs in situ was something else. My only complaint is that I wish that there had been more educational background material posted alongside the bodies.My favorite section was the cardiovascular section where the whole system was injected with polymer and then the tissues dissected away – truly a site to behold. Also of interest was the reproductive section with fetuses of various sizes and even a female body with a fetus inside.

So, if you get a chance to see the exhibit I highly recommend that you go.