We are pleased to announce the publication of the abstract “Synthetic anatomy: Beyond the confines” in the FASEB Journal (vol. 34, S1, 2020). This work by Mandeep Gill Sagoo contributes to the growing dialogue around how anatomy education can be reimagined in the digital and design era.
What the abstract covers
In this piece, Sagoo explores the idea of synthetic anatomy—an approach that transcends traditional cadaver-based teaching and anatomical modelling. By engaging with 3D-printing, speculative design and digital modelling, students are invited to build anatomical forms that reflect future possibilities, evolutionary scenarios and imaginative adaptations of the human body. The abstract highlights how this approach offers new ways of knowing anatomy by making rather than simply observing.
Why it matters
- It bridges science and design, suggesting that anatomy is not just a body to be studied, but a form to be created and questioned.
- It supports student engagement and deeper learning, because by shaping and iterating anatomy models, students internalise spatial, structural and functional relationships in a way that passive observation rarely achieves.
- It aligns with contemporary educational trends toward active, creative, student-centred learning, especially in the STEM/health sciences space.
The impact at King’s
This publication underscores the innovation happening through the Synthetic Anatomy module at King’s College London. It provides academic credibility and a peer-reviewed foothold for what is otherwise a highly creative, design-led pedagogical approach. It also enhances the visibility of the module in international discourse.
Looking ahead
The abstract is part of a broader research trajectory. Future work will aim to evaluate in more detail how students learn through this process, how their spatial understanding and anatomical insight develop, and how such methods can be scaled or transferred to other programmes in health sciences and design.
Congratulations to Mandeep Gill Sagoo and the wider Synthetic Anatomy team for this milestone publication. With this work, the module takes another step toward reshaping how we understand and teach the human body.