Body Exhibit

                For those of you who have not been to the Body Exhibit, you should go! It's located on the south street seaport Pier 17. If you want to know about your body, how it works and functions-this museum will teach you everything about the human body. I was a bit skeptical on the actuality of the bodies and how they were claimed to be "real" human bodies. However, they were REAL...every veign, muscle, blood, tissue, bone...etc. Most of the bodies had been molded in different ways to show the way bones and muscles are connected and how one thing injured in your body can trigger and affect other parts of the body. You really begin to learn about the wonders of the systems working in your body such as the circulatory, Digestive, and Reproduction system. The only part of the exhibit that really freaked me out was when they showed a real fetus and the development of the fetus. All of the bodies are fixed with chemicals to stop any decay and then preserved in a permanent silicone. The biggest wonder I had was where did these bodies come from? I attempted to find the answer, but couldn't get a legitimate response from any of the workers. When I went home I researched and found out there is a lot of controversy. "The bodies are preserved and cleaned in several factories in China and sent to the different exhibits around the world. As more factories open up in China there is more competition among body show producers"... and the exhibits have been questioned repeatedly on where the bodies actually came from. According to the New York Times 2006 article by David Barboza, "the museums are using bodies of mentally ill people and executed prisoners. Bodies were found in the city of Dandong, in a farmers yard. The people using the bodies were being paid by foreigners and illegally preserving the bodies". Besides the weird rumors and controversies, I thought the exhibit was very interesting!


Some Pictures...

Citations: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/business/worldbusiness/08bodies.html