VietNamNet Bridge – The body of the legendary Hoan Kiem turtle is being preserved in -15 degrees Celsius room to wait for German experts, who will preserve the turtle.

The Hoan Kiem turtle will be preserved by the plastination technique.

"Hanoi has decided to apply the plastination technique to preserve the Hoan Kiem turtle,” revealed Dr. Ha Dinh Duc, the most well-known expert about the legendary turtle in Vietnam.

Duc said this modern method will keep the animals preserved for a long time. Accordingly, water and fat in the cells will be sucked out before experts inject a specialized plastic into the turtle body. When the plastic is absorbed through cells, it will help keep the structure.

Dr. Phan Ke Long, deputy director of the Museum of Nature Vietnam, where the turtle body is kept, said this will be the first time Vietnam performs the technique, so Vietnam will invite two leading German experts. The task is expected to last in 12 months.

"Once it is completed, we will preserve the turtle specimen in the ideal condition, with the temperatures of 20-25°C, 60% humidity and no direct light," Dr. Long said.

Previously, experts suggested three methods to preserve the turtle: wet maintenance (the body would be soaked in chemicals), dry maintenance or animal specimen. The third was highly recommended.

The Hoan Kiem turtle died on January 19. It was handed over to the Vietnam Museum of Nature for preservation. The turtle was 185 cm long, with the shell of 100 cm wide, weighing 169kg.

The cause of death was aging. The longest-lived turtle in the world is 180 years, while the Hoan Kiem turtle is estimated at 200 years old.

Plastination is a unique technique of tissue preservation developed by Dr. Gunther von Hagens in Heidelberg, Germany in 1978. In this process, water and lipids in biological tissues are replaced by curable polymers (silicone, epoxy, polyester) which are subsequently hardened, resulting in dry, odorless and durable specimens. The class of polymer used determines the optical (transparent or opaque) and mechanical (flexible or firm) properties of the impregnated specimen.

Silicone is used for whole specimens and thick body and organ slices to obtain a natural look.

Epoxy resins are used for thin, transparent body and organ slices.

Polyester-copolymer is exclusively used for brain slices to gain an excellent distinction of gray and white matter.

The technique consists of four main steps: Fixation, dehydration, forced impregnation and hardening (curing).

Plastination is carried out in many institutions worldwide and has obtained great acceptance particularly because of the durability, the possibility for direct comparison to CT- and MR-images, and the high teaching value plastinated specimens have.

Thu Ly