Editing Body Worlds (section)

==Description==
[[File:Body Worlds Exhibit San Diego 2009.jpg|thumb|Gunther von Hagens' ''Body Worlds'' exhibition, San Diego, California, 2009]]
The exhibit states that its purpose and mission is the education of laypeople about the human body, leading to better health awareness.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.channelm.co.uk/video_4x3.html?bcpid=1213934526&bctid=1454906724 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813033737/http://www.channelm.co.uk/video_4x3.html?bcpid=1213934526&bctid=1454906724 |archive-date=13 August 2016 |title=Channel M No Smoking Day 12 March 2008 |publisher=Channelm.co.uk |access-date=25 February 2010 }}</ref> Each ''Body Worlds'' exhibition<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/media/picture_database/thumbnails.html?category=15 |title=Body Worlds Exhibitions |publisher=Bodyworlds.com |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716175844/http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/media/picture_database/thumbnails.html?category=15 |archive-date=16 July 2011 }}</ref> contains approximately 25 full-body plastinates with expanded or selective [[organ (biology)|organs]] shown in positions that enhance the role of certain systems.

To produce specimens for ''Body Worlds'', von Hagens employs around 100 people at his laboratory in Guben, Germany. One of the most difficult specimens to create was the [[giraffe]] that appears in 'Animal Inside Out'. The specimen took three years to complete—ten times longer than it takes to prepare a human body. Ten people are required to move the giraffe, because its final weight (like all specimens after plastination) is equal to the original animal.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

Many of the whole-body specimens are partially dissected in the [[Écorché]] style of 17th and 18th century European tradition, while others are sliced in various [[anatomical plane]]s to permit understanding of anatomical structure. In addition, more than 200 specimens of real human organs<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/media/picture_database/thumbnails.html?category=4 |title=Plastinated Organs |publisher=Bodyworlds.com |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115101531/http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/media/picture_database/thumbnails.html?category=4 |archive-date=15 January 2011 }}</ref> and organ systems are typically separately displayed in glass cases, some showing various medical conditions. Some of the whole-body specimens, such as the "Tai Chi Man", demonstrate interventions, and include [[prosthesis|prosthetics]] such as [[hip replacement|artificial hip]] [[joint]]s or [[heart valve]]s. Often featured is a liver with [[cirrhosis]], and the lungs of a smoker and non-smoker are placed for side by side comparison. A prenatal display may feature [[fetus]]es and [[embryo]]s, some with [[congenital disorder]]s.