Imagine that tonight you are dining at one of Las Vegas’  fine restaurants.  You begin your meal with a couple of lychee martinis, as you feast on Chilean sea bass with black bean sauce – or maybe you prefer steak, potatoes and apple pie,  “thank you very much”.  Either palate requires the same instinctive human motivation.  Stop for a moment to think about why you eat.  Stripped to its very essence, humans must eat to stay alive.  To sustain itself, the human body mechanically and chemically breaks down food into its various nutritional and waste components.  The breakdown of that wonderful meal begins with the mechanical action of mastication with the teeth and the chemical action of the enzymes in saliva.  Once the food leaves the mouth, it begins a 24-hour journey, through the part of our digestive system called the gastrointestinal tract or alimentary canal.  Indeed, we are what we eat and although textbooks give the inquisitive mind a good idea of this fact, the most effective way to understand and appreciate the inner workings of the human body is to actually see it. 
           
A uniquely preserved human digestive tract is one of the body systems on display at BODIES…the Exhibition,currently housed at the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.  However, Premier Exhibitions, Inc, the Georgia-based company that produces, manages, and promotes BODIES…the Exhibition, recently announced that they have just signed a ten-year lease agreement with the Luxor Resort and Casino and that the exhibition will be moving to this new venue in 2008, with the opening dates to be announced as construction nears completion. 

The exhibition is composed of 9 Galleries in which 21 artfully posed human bodies are displayed.  Dissections of the human bodies highlight the skeletal, muscular, nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive and urinary/reproductive systems.  The remaining Galleries consist of an Optional Fetal Gallery which shows embryos and fetuses that died of natural causes at different stages of development and babies that died of birth defects such as anencephaly, a condition that occurs when the head end of an embryo’s neural tube fails to close and the infant develops without a forebrain.  The final Gallery, The Treated Body, displays diseased organs such as lungs afflicted with tuberculosis and specimens with medical prostheses surgically inserted.  Additionally, throughout the 9 Galleries, there are over 250 organs or body parts displayed in glass cases.  Each item is accompanied by a label and educational information.  Also, projected upon the gallery walls are artist renditions of cellular structures, such as neurons, which otherwise can only be seen with a microscope.  Finally, the exhibit is sprinkled with fun and interesting tidbits about the body, such as:  “The human brain consists of 80% water”. 

To make the exhibit possible, the bodies and body parts have been preserved using a process called polymer preservation or plastination.  Polymer preservation is the technique that allows bodies and body parts to be preserved, yielding odorless specimens which can be touched, do not decay, and retain most of the microscopic properties of the original sample.  Dr. Gunther von Hagens originally conceived of this process in the 1970s, received a United States government patent for his work on preserving biological tissues with polymers in 1982, and formed the Institute of Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany in 1993.  As a note of clarification, Dr. von Hagens and Dr. Sui Hongjin, the creator of BODIES…the Exhibition, were originally in a business partnership.  When this partnership was dissolved, Dr. von Hagens constructed a touring human body exhibit called Body Worlds and Dr. Hongjin, went on to build his own anatomy display with his home base in Dalian, China.

Plastination involves four main steps.  First, in order to stop decay, the body or body part is embalmed, usually in a formalin bath,  (a solution of formaldehyde that contains a small amount of methanol used as a preservative),  according to standard mortuary science.  Then a team of surgeons dissect the body in such a manner that allows whatever system or part is being focused upon to be revealed or isolated.  Once the dissection is complete, which can take up to a year depending on the desired outcome, the specimen is placed in a bath of acetone.  In freezing conditions, the acetone draws all the water and lipids out of the cells and the acetone is drawn into the cells.  Next, the specimen is placed in a bath of liquid polymer, such as silicone rubber, polyester, or epoxy resin.  A vacuum is created and the acetone is boiled, which makes it vaporize, leaving the cells and drawing the liquid polymer in behind it.  Once this is complete, the cells are filled with liquid plastic.  At this point, if working with a full body, the specimen is still pliable and is positioned in an action pose like that of a living person, such as throwing a football or conducting an orchestra.  Finally, the plastic must be cured and is treated with gas, heat, or ultra violet light in order to harden.

Inevitably, political, ethical, and religious controversy swirls about this exhibit with various groups, academicians and human rights organizations, posing questions such as  “How did these people die?”   “Did they knowingly donate their body to science?”   “Were they political prisoners?”   “Is it right to use corpses in such a fashion?”   Although opinions may differ, BODIES… the Exhibition stands as a well-executed, creative and educational display of the human body.  To enhance the experience, audio tours for both adults and children are available for rent.  Teacher’s guides ranging from elementary school to college level are available upon request from Premier, Inc.  Particularly exceptional is the high school teacher’s guide, a 92-page illustrated manual that includes a section to facilitate student learning, complete with classroom activities and a comprehensive guide to the galleries.

To appreciate the exhibition’s educational qualities, focus upon the Skeletal Gallery, the first gallery upon entrance.  The whole body specimen that greets the visitor has mostly been stripped of tissue, exposing a female skeleton, posed as an archaeologist leaning on a shovel at a discovery site.  Next to the skeleton is information regarding the skeletal system, reminding the viewer that bones help to resist gravity, maintain the integrity of human form, and offer protection to vital organs.  Furthermore, the physical structure of bone is discussed as well as an explanation of the differentiation between cartilage and tendons.  Various bones are displayed in cases throughout the gallery, including the auditory ossicles  (bones of the ear, which are the smallest bones in the body).  The viewer can start to understand how humans can hear.  The malleus, incus and stapes are named according to the shapes they resemble:  hammer, anvil and stirrups, respectively.  These dainty bones have a huge job.  Sound waves that are picked up by the eardrum are mechanically transmitted into energy by these dainty bones, so that the nervous system can translate it into sound.  These bones operate constantly to help humans hear speech or listen to their favorite song.

Most of the remaining galleries have similar displays, with an entire dissected body posed, highlighting each particular system and its body parts that are involved.  Several noteworthy dissections are:  1. Muscle Gallery – A dissected hand shows the 19 muscles that are responsible for hand movements, such as writing or playing the piano.  2. Nervous System Gallery – The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord.  The roots of the spinal nerves  (the place in which spinal nerves enter and exit the spinal cord)  are clearly visible.  3. Respiratory Gallery – The alveoli or air sacs of the lungs, which are located at the end of the bronchial tree branches and are in direct contact with the capillary walls of the pulmonary veins, are shown.  The lungs contain approximated 300 million of these air sacs.  Only one cell thick, life-supporting gas exchange occurs across this membrane;  carbon dioxide is diffused into the bloodstream and exhaled while oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream and circulated to every organ in the body. 

The Circulatory Gallery  (the system which includes the heart, veins, and arteries that is responsible for maintaining blood flow throughout the body)  has an eerily dramatic presentation.  Instead of using polymer preservation, which would have been difficult given the tiny diameter and delicate nature of veins and arteries, a process called corrosion casting was implemented.  The arteries and veins were injected with a color polymer, then hardened.  The actual tissue was then degraded and the casting remained.  The veins are colored blue to symbolize the deoxygenated blood that generally flows through them and the arteries are colored red to symbolize the oxygen-rich blood that generally flows through them.  The gallery displays an amazing full body specimen of veins and arteries, as well as individual organs, such as the upper and lower limbs, the face, and the stomach and kidney.  Viewers can appreciate how veins and arteries innervate the entire body, bringing in oxygen and nutrient rich blood and whisking away toxins and waste.

Now, in your mind’s eye, take each system that is displayed in the galleries and superimpose them upon each other.  This is the human body, a beautifully integrated machine and a living work of art. 

What a piece of work is man.  How noble in reason.  How infinite in faculty.  In form and moving, how express and admirable.  ―William Shakespeare

For more information, visit:  www.bodiestheexhibition.com   SLV