Muzealnictwo: nowoczesne technologie w służbie historii. Część druga: Mokre preparaty muzealne jako źródło nowych informacji o przeszłości

Museology: modern technologies in service of history. Part 2: Formaldehyde preparations as a source of new information about the past

The history of medicine presented in the source literature is not particularly interesting for today’s young adolescents. Showing it in a more practical and tangible way brings an excellent opportunity to spread historical knowledge. Medical museum studies – a specialist and still developing domain – serves this purpose very well. The results of scientific research performed before World War II – which do not meet ethical standards from today’s point of view – explored the nature of different pathologies of human body, and were preserved as formaldehyde preparations and stored in medical museums. The scientific progress in molecular biology which allows scientists to conduct genetic research of old and decayed exhibits, gives them a chance to explore mysteries of diseases and evolution of pathogens, essential to verify historical data.