Bodies: The Exhibition

It's a bank holiday today and my last day of holiday before starting my new job - yes I am now officially employed! I went to see Bodies: The Exhibition, which some of you may have heard of along the way (I remember watching a documentary on Carte Blanche last year). It is an abolutely fascinating though very controversial exhibition of preserved human bodies, showing almost every feature of male and female anatomy in varying detail, including foetuses who have died in utero. It is really incredible how they have managed to preserve and separate pieces of the anatomy, including the veins, blood system and central nervous system which have been preserved separately from the rest of the body.

A human specimen is first preserved according to standard mortuary science. The specimen is then dissected to show whatever it is that someone wants to display. Once dissected, the specimen is immersed in acetone, which eliminates all body water. The specimen is then placed in a large bath of silicone, or polymer, and sealed in a vacuum chamber. Under vacuum, acetone leaves the body in the form of gas and the polymer replaces it, entering each cell and body tissue. A catalyst is then applied to the specimen, hardening it and completing the process. This method of preservation creates a specimen that will not decay. This offers thousands of unique teaching possibilities for educators at all levels, including medical professionals, archeologists and other scientists.

Check out the website here to find out more information about how it is done, and watch some videos here and here.

I really recommend it to anyone who is in London and can see it, it will change the way you view and appreciate your body completely.

posted by Cat Murray @ 15:32