‘Real Bodies’ exhibit at Bally’s adds coronavirus content

Even the corpse wears a face mask.

Splayed out like a wide receiver diving for a Hail Mary throw, the cadaver has caught something other than a football in its flayed hands: a coronavirus molecule.

The display is part of a roomful of COVID-19-related additions to the “Real Bodies” exhibit at Bally’s.

With human brains encased beneath glass and constellations of 3D-printed virus models suspended from the ceiling, the coronavirus content is meant to encapsulate what scientific understanding we currently possess of a pandemic defined in large part by uncertainty.

“I realize there’s a lot of questions,” says CEO of Imagine Exhibitions Tom Zaller, who oversaw the creation of “Bodies.” “Even though I make exhibits for a living, I’m like everybody else, I want to know how this thing works, how it affects my body. What are some interesting things that we can learn about it, that we can teach people and — to some people — make sure they know that this is a real disease, a real virus? It’s not a joke.”

Created with input from medical adviser Dr. Anna Q. Yaffee, who works as an emergency medicine physician and epidemiologist in Atlanta, the new content was three months in the making.

“What happens to your body when you contract the coronavirus?” a narrator asks during a short film that plays on a TV monitor in a corner of the room, examining the causes and consequences of COVID-19.

Elsewhere, numerous cadavers stripped of their flesh illustrate the human anatomy affected by the coronavirus, including a corpse sliced into thin sheaths, the inner workings of the body brought to life after death.

“It’s hard. It’s complicated stuff,” Zaller acknowledges. “It’s molecules and proteins. Viruses are difficult. We certainly don’t know everything, and we’re learning more every day.

“Our goal is to continue to update because this virus is new, it’s novel,” he continues, “and so what we tried to make clear in the exhibit experience is: Here’s what we know now. This doesn’t mean this is what it’s going to be two years from now. But, hopefully, some of that information today will help you be more aware and understand a little bit more about this complicated situation.”

Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @JasonBracelin on Twitter.