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'Bodies' display set to open Saturday

By Times Staff
Published August 18, 2005

[Times photo: Melissa Lyttle]

Museum of Science and Industry marketing director Candace Street, left, and MOSI retail manager Laurel Jacobs examine a cadaver that is part of “Bodies, the Exhibition.”

The controversial display of preserved human cadavers and organs, "Bodies, the Exhibition," is scheduled to open Saturday at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa.

This is the show's North American debut. A similar exhibition by a different company has drawn big crowds at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. This one comes from Premier Exhibitions, the company that brought artifacts from the Titanic to MOSI and to the Florida International Museum in St. Petersburg.

In "Bodies, the Exhibition," the 20 cadavers are dramatically dissected and posed. The bodies are kept from decaying through a process called polymer preservation, also known as plastination.

In essence, the bodies are drained of all fat and fluids, which are replaced with polymers such as silicone rubber, epoxy and polyester. This keeps the flesh from decaying and maintains its natural look.

Skin from the bodies is removed, or partly removed, to reveal muscular, nervous, circulatory or digestive systems. In some cases, only one of those systems remains, leaving, for instance, only a brain and spinal cord and all the nerve lines that connect to it.

Some of the bodies are posed as if they are performing an athletic feat, such as throwing a discus. Other displays compare a heathly organ with a diseased one.

The exhibition includes the 20 full-body specimens and 260 organ or partial body specimens.

Much of the controversy stems from the fact that the people whose bodies are now the centerpieces of the display never gave their permission to be part of it.

The bodies belonged to people from China who died unidentified or unclaimed by family members; the remains went to the Dalian Medical University of Plastination Laboratories in the People's Republic of China. The university in turn charges a fee to use the bodies for educational purposes.

The Florida Anatomical Board, a state organization that oversees anatomical materials for research and teaching in Florida, has said that the exhibit cannot open unless MOSI provides written records from the show's promoters that the donors consented to the use of their bodies in the exhibit.

Premier Exhibitions has said the bodies, all of which come from China, were unclaimed and unidentified, so it would be impossible to satisfy that demand.

As of press time, MOSI was moving ahead as if the show will open on time Saturday.

"Bodies, the Exhibition," is scheduled to open Saturday and run through Feb. 26 at the Museum of Science and Industry, 4801 E Fowler Ave., Tampa. 813 987-6100; www.mosi.org Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Extended hours for "Bodies" exhibit only: 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission varies, depending on package purchased: $14.95-$29.95 general, $13.95-$27.45 seniors and $12.95-$24.95 ages 2-12; younger than 2 free.

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 12:53:06]