Human bodies to be bared to public at exhibition in Southampton

The exhibition will display 17 cancer and tumour-based bodies and 250 body parts overall, and visitors will also have the opportunity to discuss effects of aids, alcohol and nicotine.

Body parts shown include the brain and nervous system, sexual organs, heart, kidneys, digestive system, sensory organs, respiratory tract and lungs, and muscles.

Detailed explanations and wall charts will also be placed on walls with an aim to educate those visiting, including pupils and teachers, to "contribute to further education in medical professions".

Carol Mountain, an employee at Real Bodies Exhibition Southampton, said: "It is an amazing event, every doctor is advised to go there, and it is 100% educational for everybody."

Another spokesperson for the exhibition said: "Until only a few years ago, the sight of dead bodies and the study of anatomical composition was exclusively the prerogative of physicians in the dissection rooms of universities.

"The Real Human Bodies Exhibition imparts medical knowledge to interested visitors on the basis of an extensive scientific collection of approximately 250 valuable anatomical exhibits, consisting of conserved human bodies, skeletons, limbs, organs, organ groups, function simulators, palpation models and moulages."

They added: "The bodies are all displayed in medical poses and not in artistic poses - our exhibits have been provided with 1500 explanatory labels.

"This is another aspect absent from most other exhibitions, as most other exhibitions are based on art, and the invention of plastination and the presentation of exhibits in public exhibitions now enables the general public to gain insights into the human body."

All bodies are from the USA and have been given to the exhibition as donors.

It will be hosted between 10am and 8pm at the Leonardo Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour of West Quay Road, on July 6 and 7.

Tickets cost between £12 and £20 while children up to 4-years-old can enter for free.