Yes, they're real human cadavers and body parts.
Those grayish lungs once belonged to a heavy smoker. That skin that reposes in a display case was removed, in one piece, from an adult male corpse. That muscle-man -- in the very literal sense -- who is posed clasping hands with a skeleton, once lived and breathed. And that skeleton, by the way, is his own.
"Bodies ... The Exhibition," a dramatic and controversial deconstruction of the human anatomy, opens Monday in the SportsWorks building at the Carnegie Science Center on the North Shore. It runs through May 4.
On paper, the concept of displaying 15 Chinese cadavers and 200 internal organs and "partial specimens" might strike some as morbid exploitation, a charge some critics have leveled at the exhibit. But visitors to the "Bodies" exhibit might forget that they're looking at actual human cadavers. The polymer preservation process that is used in their preparation makes them appear more like manikins than something you'd see on the autopsy table on "CSI."
Every body part in the exhibit is real except for the eyeballs, says Ron Baillie, chief program director for the Carnegie Science Center.
"If I said to you 'These are great models,' you'd believe it," he says.
"I thought it might be a little bit gross," says Maggie Baker, 13, of Pittsburgh, will be working as a volunteer docent with her brother, Stephen, 15. "But whenever I saw it, I didn't find it gross at all."
Mary Grant, head of the Ellis School in Shadyside, calls the exhibit "astonishing." She was one of nearly 1,000 teachers and administrators who got a sneak preview on Wednesday.
Grant says she probably will organize field trips for her middle and high school students. She says she even knows some 8-year-old students at her school who would enjoy the exhibit, but that she would leave it up to their parents whether or not to take them.
Small children might have a hard time relating to the exhibit, she says.
"Some of the vocabulary, like 'diaphragm' or 'renal' would be words without instant meaning to young children," she says.
Eric Turnbaugh, who teaches science in grades 6-8 at Mother of Sorrows School in Greensburg, says the exhibit was pretty much what he expected.
"They're real bodies, but I don't find it creepy," he said. "It's not repulsive. It's not a horror movie."
Visitors have the option of skipping the Fetal Development gallery, which features a placenta and several embryos and fetuses who perished in utero.
"We understand that gallery in particular has very emotional connections," says Mike Marcus, assistant director of marketing and community relations. "As such, the exhibition is set up so that galleries can be bypassed."
Despite earlier misgivings, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has approved the exhibit.
By including diseased body parts, such as a swollen heart, Marcus says the show's organizers are hoping to increase public awareness about their own health. Next to the display case containing discolored lungs is a bin for visitors who may feel compelled to discard their pack of cigarettes.
Says Marcus, "In New York, they have to empty it once a week because the case fills up."
By any measure, the detail in the exhibit is astounding.
What appears to be a tattered red woolen Christmas stocking are actually the veins and arteries of the lower leg. A look at the female reproductive organs in another gallery reminds visitors that the uterus, which was the first home for all of us, is smaller than a lemon prior to pregnancy.
The exhibition was created by Premiere Exhibitions, Inc., the Atlanta-based company behind the blockbuster "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition." The company is are touring nine other "Bodies" exhibits, including six in the United States and three others in Europe and South America.
Cheryl Mure, director of education for Premiere Exhibitions, says students as young as 4th grade have gone on field trips to see the exhibition in other cities.
She suggests that parents who are considering taking children, especially those 8 or younger, first go online to view images.
For $5, visitors can listen to audio handsets and learn more about the function of the body part they're looking at. There are separate programs for adults and children, which can be accessed by punching in the color-coded numbers on each display.
"If the child and parent each have (a handset), the two can listen to the child's segment together," says Roy Glover, medical adviser for the exhibit. "Once they listen, they can talk about it together."
How bodies are preserved
A specimen is injected with chemicals to temporarily halt the decaying process. Medical personnel dissect it to expose specific organs, muscles or other structures.
Water is removed from the specimen by displacing it with acetone.
The specimen is immersed in a liquid silicone mixture within a vacuum chamber. The acetone becomes a gas that is completely replaced by a polymer mixture.
The silicone polymer is hardened. This results in a dry, odorless, permanently preserved specimen with a rubberized appearance.
Preparation times for a small organ might take only a week, while a full-body specimen might require one year.
Source: www.bodiestheexhibition.com
What's it all about?
• "Bodies ... The Exhibition" was organized to allow the public to view the inner workings of the human body and offer a perspective previously known only to medical students and practitioners. The display of the inner and outer workings of the muscles, nerves, bones and internal organs also is intended to give visitors a greater awareness of their own health.
• The exhibit is divided into nine galleries that focus on the respective skeletal, muscular, nervous, respiratory, digestive, urinary, reproductive, endocrine and circulatory systems, displayed in a museum-style setting.
• The exhibit features cadavers posed in activities that highlight how the different parts of the body work together. For example, a specimen posed kicking a soccer ball teaches viewers that kicking uses the hamstring, Achilles tendon and even the small intestine, along with other muscles. = The cadavers and organs came from unclaimed and unidentified bodies that were processed at Dalian Medical University in the People's Republic of China. All the individuals, including embryos and fetuses, died less than four years ago, of natural causes. Dissection is a major component of Chinese medical practice.
• Each ticket will be stamped with a specific time. Reservations can me made for a specific time slot during the run of the exhibition. The self-guided tour takes 60-90 minutes.
• Visitors can attend other events at SportsWorks without seeing "Bodies," which is completely separate and requires a special ticket.
• The bodies are odorless. They present no danger to the public health.
• Taking photographs is forbidden. A catalogue with images will be for sale, along with souvenir mugs and T-shirts.
• The exhibit is appropriate for all ages, but it is recommended that children attend with a teacher or parent.
Additional Information:
'Bodies ... The Exhibition'
When: Monday-May 4. Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as Nov. 11, Dec. 2 and 16. It also will close at 4 p.m. Nov. 5 and 26 and Dec. 2
Admission: $22; $16 for ages 3-12
Audio tours: $5
Where: SportsWorks, across from the Carnegie Science Center , North Side
Details: 412-237-3400
