Real human bodies come to Regina to teach health lessons

While the human body is a mystery to most, people in Regina can get a glimpse of its inner workings at the Saskatchewan Science Centre this summer.

Body Worlds RX opens Friday and will focus on human health. The touring Body Worlds exhibits are famous for using real human bodies, which were preserved through a process called plastination.

“It is not only an anatomical exhibition that shows all the body’s interior, but it is a very health-educational exhibition,” said Dr. Angelina Whalley, the exhibit’s creative and conceptual designer.  

Whalley noted the Regina showcase will look at the “most urgent health issues” in western society, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

 “All of these things that you hear about so much but, as a layperson, don’t really get a real idea of what it is, what it looks like and how you can prevent it,” she said.

Internationally, more than 43 million people have viewed Body Worlds exhibits, which are never alike. According to Whalley, specimens are alternated – so different bodies are included – and personal life experience will also change the visitor experience.

“If you go into an exhibition like this, you always view the object with your very personal experience,” she explained.

“If you have experienced Body Worlds a couple of years ago, you have changed. You might have had a disease, you might have had a baby. You might have had someone in your family pass away. So, in other words, you’ll experience it quite differently because you look at it through different eyes.”

Whalley said she hopes people leave with the desire and motivation to make healthier choices.

“By viewing the organs, you can really feel and understand that your body is not just a divine gift or bounty of nature. It is the result of our lifestyle and whatever we do it matters,” she said.

Whalley said her husband, Dr. Gunther von Hagens – who created the exhibitions and the technology to preserve the bodies – has received praise for the project.

 “It often happens that people literally jump at him, ‘Gunther, because of you I stopped smoking,’” she said.

The exhibit will remain open at the Saskatchewan Science Centre until Sept. 10. The date was picked to coincide with the Queen City Marathon, according to the science centre.