- Tickets: Student DKK 95 / Standard DKK 145
- A Hypochondriac Ticket gives you access to all three Evening Consultations at a healing discount (DKK 395). Buy a Hypochondriac Ticket here
- After the talks, we’ll offer a glass of sparkling wine (included in the ticket), and the museum’s exhibitions will remain open until 9 pm.
- The talks will be in Danish.
Evening Consultation: From Ant to Whale – Antibiotic Resistance and the Human Body’s Healing Processes
From the tiniest creatures to the very largest. In laboratories, researchers study a wide range of animals in an effort to uncover their hidden abilities. This Evening Consultation explores how animals can help us develop new medicines and better understand the human body. Can ants hold the key to developing new antibiotics, and can marine mammals help us understand how the body heals? To understand ourselves, we need to learn more about animals.
Can a whale in a CT scanner and an ultrasound-scanned seal help us understand how the human body heals? When the spine is fractured or the heart is injured, tissue is damaged – but how can the body repair itself as effectively as possible? Henrik Lauridsen researches regenerative medicine and biology. Rather than focusing solely on humans to understand the body’s ability to repair itself, he brings large marine mammals into CT, MRI and PET scanners. Using scans of animals with remarkable regenerative abilities, Henrik Lauridsen investigates how we can better help the human body heal injuries caused by accidents or disease.
Who would have thought that ants are walking pharmacies? Ida Cecilie Jensen is a biologist with a PhD in ants. Earlier this year, she won Forskerfesten (formerly the PhD Cup) with a presentation of her groundbreaking research into the remarkable abilities of ants. How can ants and the bacteria on their feet be used to combat plant diseases in agriculture – and even inspire the development of new antibiotics? Ida Cecilie Jensen’s research reveals nature’s hidden collaborations and solutions developed over more than 168 million years of evolution. Perhaps ants can help shape the sustainable agriculture and medicine cabinets of the future. As Ida Cecilie Jensen puts it: “A tiny footprint from an ant can become a giant leap for humankind.”
Speakers:
Ida Cecilie Jensen, biologist and PhD, Aarhus University
Henrik Lauridsen, Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University
Evening Consultations at the Medical Museion – Autumn 2026
We humans are constantly searching for new knowledge about ourselves. How can we treat disease? How does the body work? How can we heal our ailments? To develop new medicines and better understand human physiology, we often turn to the animal kingdom for answers. This season of Evening Consultations explores what animals can teach us about the human body, health and medicine.
We’ll go right inside researchers’ laboratories and explore how everything from ants to large marine mammals can help us understand ourselves. What do monkey testicles have to do with declining male fertility? Can mole fat and burnt viper cure disease and other ailments? Can a fish make the human heart beat in sync? Can ants help solve the problem of antibiotic resistance? Can you CT-scan a whale and learn more about how the human body heals? These are just some of the questions we’ll explore during this autumn’s Evening Consultations.
About Evening Consultations
The Evening Consultations at the Medical Museion are a series of talks in which experts and researchers explore and take the pulse of the past, present and future of health science. Evening Consultations are recommended for the incurably curious and anyone looking for a little food for thought.
The Evening Consultations take place in the 1787 auditorium, originally built as the Royal Academy of Surgery. After the consultation, we recommend enjoying a glass of sparkling wine and taking a stroll through the museum’s exhibitions.
Remember that a Hypochondriac Ticket gives you access to all three events at a healing discount.
