CLEVELAND – A long glass case extends down a narrow room. Inside the case lay organs ravaged by disease and illness: the blackened lungs of smokers and coal-miners, a brain exposed in a skull showing dark, damaged tissue from a stroke, a heart wasted from obesity. Against the walls stand human specimens, stripped of their skin, posed and open, exposing layers of muscles, tissues and organs. Each display is real and part of the new exhibit Body Worlds 2, which features more than 200 human specimens, including entire bodies, body slices and organs preserved in a process called plastination.

Running from April 9 – Sept. 18 at the Great Lakes Science Center, Body Worlds 2 is a presentation of the unique process of plastination, invented in 1977 by Dr. Gunther von Hagens, said Georgina Gomez, spokeswoman and development manager for the Institute for Plastination North American Body Donor Office.

Dr. von Hagens invented plastination in 1977 while at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. The process involves dehydrating bodies in acetone baths, then replacing the bodily fluids with plastics and polymers, thus preserving anatomical specimens, Gomez said.

Founding the Institute for Plastination in 1993 in Heidelberg, Dr. von Hagens began to offer plastinated specimens for exhibition through the Body Worlds and Body Worlds 2 exhibitions.

The exhibit toured Europe and Asia, receiving mixed reactions.

“When the exhibit was in Europe, showing the bodies was viewed as kind of a taboo,” Gomez said. “People wanted to know where the bodies came from.”

When the tours began, the bodies were exhibited in lifeless stances. The exhibit brought to Cleveland shows the bodies in motion. Plastinates are posed riding skateboards, kicking soccer balls, ice skating and fencing. All specimens are stripped of skin and other sections of their bodies to highlight how the body performs each task.

“When the bodies weren’t in poses people had trouble viewing them, they ended up looking like dolls,” said spokeswoman Patricia Oakar. “People interact more with them when they are in poses.”

The plastinates are created in China, by more than 2,000 anatomists under the supervision of Dr. von Hagens, said Gomez. Each plastinate takes six months to three years to create. The bodies are arranged in the desired position and the plastics and polymers are then pumped into the body, fixing it in place.

Currently, 150 people have been plastinated, said Gomez, and more than 6,000 Europeans and 150 Americans have donated or agreed to donate their bodies for the process.

“Our youngest donors signed up when they were 4,” Gomez said. “Both of their parents were donors.”

Some of the bodies have been cut open in sections, through rib cages and skulls, to expose the inner working of each bodily system. Backs are split and clamped open, revealing spinal cords and nervous systems. A plastinate of a woman, five months pregnant, stands with skin removed and stomach sliced open, revealing a 17 centimeter fetus. A cross-sectioned profile of an obese man is placed next to that of an average man for comparison. The presentation offers a view of the obese man’s heart, blackened and damaged from 50 years of abuse, and his organs which are confined by layers of fat surrounding them. Rib cages are exposed in certain specimens to show the damage smoking causes to the lungs. In other cases, organs and body slices show cancer growths and tumors, heart attacks and strokes.

“Hopefully the exhibit will create an appreciation for the human body and will be an incentive for leading a healthy lifestyle,” Gomez said.

“Thirty percent of visitors who came to Body Worlds will quit or cut down on smoking,” Gomez said, citing independent visitor polls.

Cleveland is the first stop for Body Worlds 2 in the Midwest. Gomez cites Ohio’s large and appreciative medical community as the reason Cleveland was chosen but hopes that every major city will eventually be able to host the exhibit.

The exhibit has been well received in Cleveland, Oakar said, bringing in field trips and a diverse crowd of all ages.

“A lot of parents are bringing their children as a starting point for the birds and the bees talk,” Oakar said.

“Hopefully, something like this will open up these fields for people,” Gomez said. “I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘If I would have had this when I was young, I would’ve been a doctor now.'”