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Boer LL, Kircher SG, Rehder H, Behunova J, Winter E, Ringl H, Scharrer A, de Boer E, Oostra RJ. History and highlights of the teratological collection in the Narrenturm, Vienna (Austria). Am J Med Genet A 2023; 191:1301-1324. [PMID: 36806455 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
The collection of the Narrenturm in Vienna houses and maintains more than 50,000 objects including approximately 1200 teratological specimens; making it one of the biggest collections of specimens from human origin in Europe. The existence of this magnificent collection-representing an important resource for dysmorphology research, mostly awaiting contemporary diagnoses-is not widely known in the scientific community. Here, we show that the Narrenturm harbors a wealth of specimens with (exceptionally) rare congenital anomalies. These museums can be seen as physical repositories of human malformation, covering hundreds of years of dedicated collecting and preserving, thereby creating unique settings that can be used to expand our knowledge of developmental conditions that have to be preserved for future generations of scientists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas L Boer
- Department of Imaging, Section Anatomy and Museum for Anatomy and Pathology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Susanne Gerit Kircher
- Center for Pathobiochemistry and Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Helga Rehder
- Institute of Medical Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jana Behunova
- Institute of Medical Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eduard Winter
- Pathologisch-Anatomische Sammlung im Narrenturm-NHM, Vienna, Austria
| | - Helmut Ringl
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anke Scharrer
- Department of Pathology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Elke de Boer
- Department of Human Genetics, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.,Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Roelof-Jan Oostra
- Department of Medical Biology, Section Clinical Anatomy and Embryology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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