Want To Join The Debate Over Body Worlds 4?

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 26 Mar 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS 4 at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) is set to encourage some lively debate and discussion, with the launch next week of a new lecture programme associated with the exhibition. The lectures, which begin on 1 April and are supported by the British Red Cross, range from unique insights into the mechanics of saving a life, to debates on the ethics of displaying the dead, and stem cell research.

The British Red Cross will present regular sessions on how to keep the human body working in an emergency, while Tony Walter, Professor of Death Studies at the University of Bath, will lead a debate on the ethics of BODY WORLDS. The programme includes a fascinating insight into the role of a coroner, debates on the development of a DNA database or whether newborn babies should be 'barcoded at birth', as well as lectures on anatomical history and disease in the Middle Ages.

BODY WORLDS 4: The original exhibition of real human bodies runs until 29 June and is the culmination of Dr von Hagens' 30 year career in anatomy. His latest exhibition, which has never been shown before, includes the latest developments in plastination, a preservation technique he developed in 1977.

Among the over 200 plastinates on display, BODY WORLDS 4 features a badminton player, a jumper doing the splits and 'The Wave Roller' - a male plastinate inside a metal wheel. Other exhibition plastinates include a relay runner, a guitar player, a gorilla, and the famous 'Poker Playing Trio' featured in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.

Tony Hill, Acting Director at MOSI said: "BODY WORLDS 4 is the type of exhibition which you want to talk about afterwards, so we developed a programme of events about issues surrounding the human body. The Museum is delighted to welcome a series of experts in their field who will encourage audience participation on discussions such as whether it is ethical to display the dead, to the practicalities of saving a life. Please do book your tickets now, as numbers will be limited."

Joe Mulligan, Head of first aid services at British Red Cross said: "We know people are fascinated with how their bodies work, and we want to show them how easy it is to respond in an emergency when things go wrong. Following our work with Dr von Hagens on Autopsy: Emergency Room (Channel 4), our BODY WORLDS show will bring this to life by combining clips from Autopsy with clear and effective first aid demonstrations. This is first aid like you have never seen it."

BODY WORLDS is the most highly attended touring exhibition in the world, having attracted nearly 25 million visitors around the world. The striking organs and whole-body plastinates in BODY WORLDS 4 derive from people who have, in their lifetime, generously donated their bodies for Plastination, to specifically educate future generations about health. More than 8,000 donors including 103 Britons have bequeathed their bodies to von Hagens' Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany.

The first lecture is on 1 April by Nigel Meadows, HM Coroner: The Role and Powers of the Coroner in Relation to a Deceased Person's Body, and will last 1 hour. Admission is £5.00 per person or £2.50 with a BODY WORLDS 4 exhibition ticket. Limited on-site car parking £3.00 per car. Cash Bar. All exhibitions are held in the Special Exhibitions Gallery, Museum of Science and Industry, Liverpool Road, Castlefield. For evening events, doors open 6.30pm. Numbers are limited, so please buy your tickets in advance. Tel: 0161 606 0206. Please see table below for full programme.

Notes

Body Worlds 4 Lecture and Debate Programme

Tues 01/04/08 Nigel Meadows Lecture: The Role and Powers of the Coroner in Relation to a Deceased Person's Body

Tues 08/04/08 Manchester University Debate: Towards a Universal DNA Database

Sat 12/04/08 1.30pm British Red Cross: The Mechanics Behind Saving a Life (Family Event & Girl Guide event)

Tues 15/04/08 Emyr Benbow: Post Mortem Examinations â€" Do we Need Them?

Tues 22/04/08 NOWGEN Debate: Stem Cells: Hope or Hype?

Tues 29/04/08 British Red Cross: The Mechanics Behind Saving a Life

Sat 10/05/08 1.30pm British Red Cross: The Mechanics Behind Saving a Life(Family Event)

Tues 13/05/08 Manchester Museum Debate: Should we Display the Dead?

Tues 20/05/08 Tony Walter Lecture: The Ethics of BODY WORLDS

Tues 27/05/08 British Red Cross: The Mechanics Behind Saving a Life

Tues 03/06/08 NOWGEN Debate: Newborn Screening… Bar-coded at Birth?

Sat 07/06/081.30pm British Red Cross: The Mechanics Behind Saving a Life (Family event)

Tues 10/06/08 Carole Reeves Lecture: Public Bodies: Private Parts â€" A History of Anatomical Display

Tues 24/06/08 Clare Pilsworth Lecture: Blood and Bile: Disease and the Medieval Body

About Tickets to BODY WORLDS 4 BODY WORLDS 4 tickets are on sale priced £10.00/£11.50 (Mon-Thur/Fri-Sun), £7.00/£8.50 (children/youth), or £8.00/ £9.50 (senior citizens/students with ID). Special group rates apply. Tickets are available from the MOSI box office and on our website at http://www.mosi.org.uk and through http://www.seetickets.com

About the Museum of Science and Industry

The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), located at Liverpool Road, Manchester, is a charitable trust (registration 518412) which receives revenue funding from The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (SCMS). MOSI is dedicated to making Science and Industry inspirational to all, while highlighting our specific region's rich and continuous contribution to scientific endeavour and education. Our vision is to be a world class cultural attraction right at the heart of everything Manchester has to offer. Please see: http://www.mosi.org.uk

About the Institute for Plastination (IfP) and the process of Plastination

Dr. Gunther von Hagens Dr. von Hagens, a former researcher at the University of Heidelberg's Anatomy and Pathology Department, invented Plastination in 1977, to help improve the education of medical students. In 1993 he founded the IfP, which is the central organisation that co-ordinates the BODY WORLDS exhibitions, Biodur Plastinate products, the unique Body Donation programme and the scientific preparation of the Plastinates themselves. Plastination is today mainly performed in Guben, Germany.

During Plastination, bodily fluids and soluble fats are extracted from a specimen, and replaced through vacuum-forced impregnation, with reactive resins and elastomers, such as silicon rubber. The specimen is then cured with light, heat, or certain gases, which gives it rigidity and permanence.

About the British Red Cross

The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies. We enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies in their own communities. And when the crisis is over, we help them to recover and move on with their lives.

The British Red Cross is providing first aid expertise to the BODY WORLDS 4 exhibition. The Red Cross workshops 'The mechanics behind saving a life' explore the anatomical impact of injury and disease on the human body and shows how first aid can treat these, often to life-saving effect. BODY WORLDS visitors can also pick up some free first aid tips.

British Red Cross