PITTSBURGH - The two human lungs lay side by side on a display table at the Carnegie Science Center. One looks healthy, the other is shriveled, blackened, polyp-ridden and cancerous.

"It's shocking when you see the two next to each other," center director Joanna Haas said.

That's the point.

The lungs will be displayed as part of "Bodies ... The Exhibition," which opens Oct. 8 for a seven-month run at the science center. Tickets went on sale Thursday.

The show, at the center's SportsWorks building, will feature more than 15 full human bodies and 250 individual body parts that have undergone a preservation technique called plastination, where body fluids are replaced by liquid plastic. The plastic is hardened, leaving the tissues intact.

It is one of 10 similar exhibits worldwide from Premier Exhibitions of Atlanta. The exhibit debuted in the United States in 2004 and comes with plenty of controversy, with people questioning its ethics and the provenance of the bodies.

In June, an 11-year science center employee quit in protest, saying Premier can't say how the bodies died or why they died.

They were obtained from a plastination lab at a Chinese medical school and Premier is "absolutely comfortable" they were obtained legally, said Dr. Roy Glover, professor emeritus of anatomy and cell biology at the University of Michigan. He also serves as Premier's spokesman for the exhibit.

He said the bodies were not of prisoners, but were of people whose bodies had not been claimed.

The Pittsburgh exhibit will feature the bodies in various sports or fitness poses. One displayed Thursday showed a man kicking a soccer ball.

"Most people are undereducated about the knowledge of their bodies," Glover said. "You will be amazed at ... how complex and how beautiful your body is."

The exhibit, Glover and Haas said, aims to educate visitors about the human body and what can be done to keep it healthy, hence the healthy and cancerous lungs.

"Even if you walk away with just one question, one insight, then we've done our job," Haas said.

The exhibit is suitable for children, though the museum recommends adults accompany them. Tours for more than 2,000 school children have already been scheduled.

Various segments of the community were contacted for their input and a blog on the center's Web site welcomes comments from supporters and opponents of the exhibit, Haas said.

The controversy, said center board member Esther Bush, "is only part of the excitement of the educational opportunity. It's an awesome, awesome experience. It's a little chilling, but it's more engaging than anything else."

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On the Net:

"Bodies ... The Exhibition:" http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/bodies