Every year at the end of June we get to go to ConQEST and we always have a ball.
The Dissection Connection trade display at ConQEST 2012
This year we ran two workshops – a head dissection and a piglet dissection. One of the workshoppers, a lab tech from Emerald, took some great photos of the piglet dissection and has been kind enough to let me share them here.
Step 1 – peg out the beastie on a tray using rubber bands around each foot. Heather from Southern Biological showed me how to do this.
Piglet dissection: a rubber band around each foot and looped behind the dissection tray will hold the piglet still for dissection
Step 2 – make a mid-sagittal incision in the skin
Piglet dissection: making the mid-sagittal incision
Step 3 – separate the skin from the muscle using a scalpel
Piglet dissection: once the skin has been peeled back the muscles are exposed for examinationPiglet dissection: the tarsals exposed
Step 4 – locate the diaphragm and identify the organs of the thoracic cavity
Piglet dissection: examining the heart in the thoracic cavityPiglet dissection: an incision can be made in the trachea and the lungs can be inflated with a syringe
Step 5 – identify the organs of the abdominal cavity
Piglet dissection: the liver and intestine inside the abdominal cavityPiglet dissection: intestine removed and kidney exposedPiglet dissection: the small intestine removed and stretched out to demonstrate its length
So, there you have it. A good time was had by all and then we went to lunch – which is always fabulous at ConQEST. See you there ‘in the flesh’ next year.
This is the bag I brought home the bacon in - I can still smell the smokey goodness
Happy Australian Bacon Week to you! This week here at the Chop Shop it’s going to be all about the bacon.
Australian Bacon Week is an initiative of Australian Pork to promote home grown, home-smoked bacon and raise awareness about the importing of frozen pork products.
The statistics on the Australian Pork website are pretty staggering:
over 70% of smallgoods in Australia are made from imported pork
65% of bacon sold in Australia is made from imported pork
$8.5 million worth of pork is imported into Australia every week
Imported pork products come from countries with heavily subsidised agricultural industries so you would think that they would be winning the price war, but the pork and smallgoods that we buy from our local Gympie butchers is the same price or cheaper than the imported product from the supermarket.
The winners of the awards for Australia’s best bacon have been announced – check out the website and see if there is a winning butcher near you.
So, be a Porkstar this week and bring home the bacon from a local supplier or, if you can’t get to the butcher, look for the pink Australian Pork logo on the package and wake up smelling the bacon that came from a pig that grew up near you.
Stillborn piglets make an excellent alternative to rats for dissection
This little piggy is the latest and greatest in whole animal dissection specimens. They are either stillborn from large litters or smothered by the sow in the stall and come from a farm breeding pigs for meat. They are usually disposed of as farm waste but we are collecting them and diverting them from the waste stream for dissection. They are less smelly, cheaper, closer to human anatomy than a rat and aren’t being bred just to be euthanased for science, so each piglet used in the classroom represents a rat that hasn’t had to be put down.
Each piglet typically weighs 600-800g. The piglets are collected and frozen without any chemical preservatives which reduces your chemical exposure in the lab as well as eliminating a source of exposure to the kids in the classroom. It also makes the piglets safe to dispose of in landfill with other normal waste.
The organs of the stillborn piglet are clean and clearly identifiable
As they generally have not yet fed or only briefly suckled, the intestinal tract is pretty clean and there is little smell to the specimen. Each organ can easily be identified and removed for further exploration.
Closeup view of the piglet urogenital system
The detail in the circulatory system of the piglets is particularly amazing. You can see in the photo above the veins and arteries of the urogenital system clearly visible. Once the overlying organs were taken out, the spine was visible and a section could be removed to allow the spinal cord to be seen.
There is a lot more that can be explored with these specimens and we will be spending a lot of time working on them so we can develop some really good resources to allow you to get more bang for your buck. In the meantime keep an eye out for workshop announcements that will give you the chance to get your hands on one. We are expecting to be able to bring them to you at ConQEST 2012, if not before.
These stunning and incredibly detailed books have been produced for centuries as both teaching tools and society curiosities. The oldest specimen on display was made in 1530.
The online exhibition is well worth a look and includes videos of the books in action. You can even hear the paper crackle as the pages are turned and the flaps are lifted. Browse the links down the right hand side of the site and keep an eye out for the pregnant ladies in hats and gowns to protect their modesty.
