16 August 2009
The Art in Science showcased in exhibition celebrating Science Week
The surprising physical beauty of world class pathology testing is being showcased in an exhibition at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as part of National Science Week.
The still photos show the normal processes Pathologists at Pathwest, the University of Western Australia and the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research carry out on blood, muscle and tissue samples to diagnose and treat diseases like cancer and to advance their understanding through research.
Event Organiser and Manager of the UWA School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Brett Tizard said images like these had often been printed by Pathologists and hung on office walls to be admired but would now be available to a wider audience.
“This exhibition is an opportunity for the community to better understand what pathology entails, how advanced some of our processes are and see just how attractive cells can become when they are stained as part of our standard processes,” said Mr Tizard.
“‘Pathology: The Art and the Science’ illustrates the beauty within disease processes and the depth and breadth of medical research,” he said.
Each series of photos is accompanied by a detailed explanation of what it illustrates and its significance to patients diagnosed now and into the future.
One black and white image indicates how pathologists were able to determine that a brain tumour was in fact a secondary cancer tumour setting doctors on a hunt to find the original cancer- a melanoma.
Another shows different muscle proteins, each targeted by a different coloured stain carried out as part of international research to find a way to ‘switch on’ defective muscle tissue by using the genes in functioning cardiac muscle to overcome muscle diseases like muscular dystrophy.
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Art Curator Joanna Wakefield said the photographs offered an unusual insight into the medical world.
“It is quite incredible how closely these scientific images resemble abstract works,” she said.
“It certainly casts diseased cells and defective genes in a whole new light.”
The exhibition can be viewed in Hospital’s Art Gallery between 6am-9pm until 4 September,and.admission is free.
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