Body Worlds

I just got back from the Body Worlds exhibit at OMSI. Fascinating. If you don't know what that is, it is a travelling exhibit featuring real bodies that have been partially dissected and preserved through plastination. Plastination means removing the volatile compounds (i.e. the stuff that decays) from tissue and replacing them with resins or plastic that essentially last forever. The results looks much like the parts would look in life. These specimens can then be displayed out where they can easily be seen and understood. It's a very interesting exhibit, but not for the squeamish.

I've always been fascinated by anatomy and the idea that bodies are essentially complex machines made of interdependent, and much simper pieces. This exhibit showed the pieces in great detail in a way that you could get close to and examine. It also showed how the various parts work together.

It was very interesting to see the various muscles and how they interact and work around each other to produce motion. The big muscles that are easy to see from the outside are interesting enough, but even cooler were the smaller and more complex structures like the hands and feet that have lots of muscles and tendons moving next to each other and even bending around each other. My physical therapist sister probably can't help seeing this stuff in her sleep, but a lot of it was new to me.

Even more interesting to me were the depictions of the organs and systems inside the body. I wasn't aware that type of stuff would be there, but it was also (to wear out a word) fascinating. There were nervous systems, circulatory systems, a complete digestive tract, and all sorts of other parts shown in great detail. Some of them even showed signs of disease. It is very educational to see just what problems like cancer and emphysema are actually doing to a body. These are things normally dealt with in the abstract without really understanding what's happening. Its the difference between saying your car won't start and understanding that you've burned out a coil in your starter motor, so it won't turn the engine. In either case, your car is still not running, but in the latter, demystified version, you might be able to do something about it, or at least know how to prevent it in the future.

I can see how some people might have problem with this exhibit, either from a squeamish, ick-factor point of view or from a general moral problem with the idea of displaying deceased people, especially dissected. I am not easily grossed out, so the first is not a problem for me at all really. I find that my interest in the subject far outweighs any issue in that direction. The moral factor is not really a problem for me either. Everyone involved was very well informed about what was going to happen and how their bodies would be used. Every one of them understood that they were no longer going to need their bodies and that they might still be of some value to society, and since most of them were probably old enough or sick enough that they would not have been good organ donors, this gave them a way to find that value. I found their generosity very refreshing and very educational.

If you are at all interested in the details of the human body, I highly recommend seeing one of the Body Worlds exhibits if you get the chance.