By Michael Letterlough Jr.

How many of us would love to see how the inside of our bodies look and work? While many might hesitate at the thought, The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia is allowing guests to be able to see an exhibition of over 200 real human organs and 25 complete bodies in the Dr. Gunther von Hagen’s Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies.

Beginning in October, the exhibit will stay open to the public until April 23, 2006. As part of a worldwide tour, this exhibit of preserved human bodies and organs through a process called plastination has already astounded more than 17 million people around the world. The 22,000 square foot exhibit enables guests to learn about various human body related subjects such as anatomy, health and physiology.

Dr. Gunther von Hagens invented the process of plastination in 1997—which is where natural fluids are replaced in the human specimen with liquid reactive plastics that are hardened and cured with gas, light or heat. Once the bodies go through this process they are called plastinates and they are positioned in lifelike poses.

Steve Snyder, vice president of exhibits and programs at the institute, said, “What that really lets us do is show the human body not just as individual organs—here’s a heart, here’s a lung, which we do as well—but also to show how all those things work together. This exhibit goes through all the major systems of the body and gives you a view into them through these whole body plastinates in about 200 organs and organ systems.”

He said the exhibit will display healthy, as well as unhealthy bodies, such as an enlarged heart, or a liver suffering from psorosis, lungs in the body of a smoker and gallbladders filled with gallstones.

Overall there are two things, Snyder said, he thinks this site does very well: “The first is the idea of seeing how the human body works in a way that was never available before. It really evokes the sense of awe, wonder and reverence of the human body and I think that’s a very powerful tool to get people interested in how the body works.

“The second thing it does is, because it deals with healthy and unhealthy organ systems bodies, it lets us see the impact of choices we make in our lives on our bodies,” he said. “We can see what it looks like when you have plaque building up in the arteries; you can see what happens when someone becomes accessibly overweight and where the fat actually builds up. And of course, what are you doing to your lungs every time you light up. It’s a very striking thing to see.”

“It’s quite an educational opportunity to see the body like you’ve never seen before,” said Lauren Rose, communications manager. “The insides of the human body has only before been something that was sort of locked behind the medical school and the emergency room doors, and this opens it up to the public and the laymen in a way that’s never been available before.”

“One of the amazing things about this exhibit,” Snyder continued saying, “is because it goes through so many different systems and health issues that people may have had (themselves) people gravitate to something that touches on their personal life. It’s very personal and people can really relate to it.

Body Worlds, The Human Body will also be showing at The Franklin Institute’s Tuttleman IMAX Theater where viewers can see things like a tomato travel through the body to the stomach.

For information on ticket prices call 1-877-801-BODY or visit: www.fi.edu/BodyWorlds