Body Worlds opening tomorrow at the TELUS World of Science

The TELUS World of Science will be opening it’s doors on Friday following a three week haitus, for Calgarians to experience its newest mouth-gaping display – plasticized bodies.

The Body Worlds and the Brain exhbit is world famous for its use of human bodies preserved through innovative plastination techniques, offering breathtaking insight into the human anatomy.

Bodies in the exhibits are preserved using polymer plastics, removing fluids but preserving bones, connective tissues and cell walls. Visitors will be able to see the digestive, nervous, neurological, arterial and venous systems to better understand how they work.

The exhibit, and others like it, have touched off controversy in the past and raised ethical questions around preserviving the dignity and respect of dead bodies. In Calgary, Catholic Bishop Fred Henry has questioned whether the display is appropriate. Henry has previously indicated that he feels there is legitimate value in using plastinated models as a teaching tool, however, when bodies are posed in "athletic mid-movement or ghoulishness . . . we have crossed the line."

Science centre officials say they are expecting an enthusiastic crowd to take in the exhibit.

A series of unusual educational events, partnering with different University of Calgary programs, including the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, will also be streaming throughout the exhibit until it wraps up this fall.

At that time, two more international exhibits, different from Body Worlds, will run through the downtown centre, the first from fall 2010 to early 2011 and the second from early 2011 to June 2011. The downtown centre will officially close in the summer of 2011, in preparation for the new Telus World of Science, just north of the Calgary Zoo.