17 Apr 2009
Museum of Human Disease opens in Sydney
BY Tim Nash
A new museum has opened in Sydney, Australia, displaying more than 2,000 specimens of diseased human tissue.
The Museum of Human Disease, established in the early 1960s as a resource for medical students and open to school visits since 1996, is now open to the public at the University of New South Wales, following the introduction of self-guided audio tours.
Exhibits, arranged in more than 30 separate displays based on the body's organs and systems - such as digestion, circulation and the brain - include a cirrhotic liver, gangrenous limbs, tumours, blocked arteries and damaged hearts and lungs.
There is also a laboratory where visitors can use microscopes and computers to look more closely at specimens and a presentation area for lectures and seminars.
A spokesperson for the museum said: "The Museum of Human Disease is recognised as a centre of excellence in education and the promotion of good health in the community. This unique collection highlights the workings of the human body and the changing patterns of disease in our society."
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