We made it to the Body Worlds exhibit today- WOW! Chiquita went a couple of months ago and came home completely flabbergasted, she talked about it for days; now I know why. It truly is amazing how complex our bodies are- I'm going to sound like a big science geek but bear with me- I think It's even more amazing when you learn how DNA is responsible for all the intricacies. I am a biology major at BYU and have taken all kinds of molecular biology, genetics, and cell biology classes and really enjoy understanding human development from those perspectives. Though I have never taken a physiology or anatomy course, I really did enjoy and appreciate the exhibit as I'm sure everyone who's seen it did.
After the exhibit they have some plasticized organs and cross sections of torsos and limbs you can pick up and touch.
Here is a kidney...
... a cross section of an arm- including the bone, muscle, and fat (as if you really wanted to know).
A liver- it was way bigger than I thought it would be. They had a heart but some bum broke a vessel off and it was in the back getting glued back together.
There are arguments that plasticizing people and putting them on display in artistic poses is a kind of desecration of the human body. I kind of don't see it that way, but if a member of my family suddenly decided to donate their body I'd probably think otherwise. Before going through the exhibit I thought it might be kind of morbid or creepy- sometimes it was. For the most part, however, it was really fascinating and truly unlike anything else I've ever seen. It was definitely worth the drive, money, and long lines- check it out because It'll be gone soon.
We totally missed the hands on part when we went. I was so engrossed reading about that weirdo doctor who invented this shit, that I must have skipped that part. I can still get myself to barf when I think about the toes and the toenails.
ReplyDeleteTotally morbid, but I liked it :-)
ReplyDelete-La Princessa
Dear Malaina,
ReplyDeleteCute blog, and I hope your biology studies are well. My name is Audrey and I was looking through the Internet very specifically for a photograph from Bodyworld Exhibit of a cross-section of an arm (I blog about health issues). I stumbled upon your blog and you appear to have the only image of a Bodyworld arm cross-section!! May I have your permission to publish it in an article I'm writing about nutrition? I can edit out the person in the photograph if necessary. Thank you and all the best,
Audrey Mei
audreymei@gmail.com