MOBILE, Ala. — A unique learning opportunity for adults and kids of all ages opened Friday at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. OUR BODY: The Universe Within, an exhibit featuring actual human bodies, enables visitors to better understand how they work. It will remain at the downtown Mobile venue through May 11.

The 7,500-square-foot exhibit includes a dozen whole-body specimens and 75 anatomical displays that have been preserved through polymer impregnation, also referred to as plastination.

The technique replaces water and fat with reactive plastics that prevent decomposition. The process, developed three decades ago, maintains the integrity of human specimens — organs, veins and muscles — and provides an illustrative study of the human body.

The specimens originated in China, where they were donated through medical schools and other research facilities to promote education, science and research of the human body.

Those who walk through the exhibit can expect to get a better idea of the wonders of their body, and some will even see a part of the body that ails them.

Exploreum spokesperson Kristen Dreaper said, “Each person will find something uniquely personal. I think you gain a greater appreciation each time you come in the exhibit. People will want to keep their New Year’s resolutions after seeing this exhibit.”

OUR BODY is broken up into systems, including skeletal, respiratory, urinary and reproductive, muscular, nervous, circulatory and digestive.

Complete bodies are shown with their systems revealed, while smaller display cases show healthy and diseased organs, including vivid illustrations of the damage caused by smoking.

“We believe this is appropriate for children of all ages, but it’s a decision parents should make,” Dreaper said.

Such a choice can be made at the entrance to the prenatal display, which shows fetuses up to eight months along in their development cycle. Signage alerts moms and dads of the content.

Because the body is seen in a way normally reserved for doctors and other medical professionals, visitors to the exhibit will leave with a renewed understanding of the intricate relationship between each of the body’s systems and perhaps a greater appreciation for their own bodies.

Even those who are not particularly spiritual will marvel at the wonder of the inner workings of the human body. Dreaper said, “Not only is it a tool for learning, it’s a source for reflection.”

The exhibit is enhanced by other areas of the Exploreum that are devoted to education about the history, art and science of anatomy, ranging from the insights of “The Father of Anatomy,” Vesalius, to the contributions of Leonardo da Vinci.

Through February in the CIBA Science Lab, there will be related activities anyone can take part in. Exploreum Science Coordinator Tim Pula said, “You can look at your skin magnified, hear yourself breathing, listen to your heartbeat and examine (animal) tissue samples through a microscope.”

Museum guests will also be able to touch tissue samples in the lab, Pula said, and examine plastinated specimens.

There is a cow heart to illustrate what is learned through EKG tests, as well as healthy pig lungs and diseased specimens that will be inflated to show what smoking can do to the body.

“You see kids looking at it, and they say ‘ewwwwww,’ but we see the parents looking at it and wondering if their lungs look like that,” Pula said.

Animal dissection is also explained, and its importance to science is discussed.

March will bring “Body Machines” to the lab, a look at how the body works as a machine, with muscles acting as cables and pulleys.

Pula said, “Let’s take some measurements of you. Let’s look at you and see how you’re built. You can’t walk away without learning something.”

In the Hearin-Chandler Virtual Journeys Digital Theater, located next to Minds On Hall, 3-D glasses will help take audiences on a trip through the body’s systems. They can reach out and almost touch red blood cells as they move through the body, or follow a food particle as it passes through the digestive system.

The J.L. Bedsole IMAX DOME Theater, spotlights the human brain in National Geographic’s “Wired to Win.” The large-format film follows two cyclists as they compete in the Tour de France, overcoming pain, fear and fatigue in pursuit of the yellow jersey.

Also showing is “The Human Body,” which documents a day in the life of the human body and the systems that keep the body running from morning until night.

“When we have a blockbuster exhibit, we try to tie the other exhibits in with it,” Dreaper said.

“This exhibit provides the Exploreum with a unique opportunity to educate the community about health and lifestyle choices — a lesson that affects every segment of the population,” said Mike Sullivan, executive director of the Gulf Coast Exploreum. “Through science and technology we can continue to improve quality of life along the Gulf Coast, a worthwhile reason to bring OUR BODY to the area.”

OUR BODY: The Universe Within will be on display seven days a week. Advance tickets are now on sale at the Exploreum Box Office and online at www.exploreum.com.

Prices are $10 for members; $20 for adults; $18 for seniors (ages 60+) and youth; and $17 for children (ages 2-12). Admission includes access to the exhibit as well as the Exploreum’s Hands on Hall, Wharf of Wonder, Minds on Hall, Ciba Lab and Digital Journeys Virtual

Theater.

For $5 more, visitors can add one of the IMAX films.

For more information, call (251) 208-6873 or (877) 625-4FUN.