The Disease That Turns Muscles Into Bones

(via Amusing Planet) Behind a glass enclosure at the Mutter Museum of The College of Physicians in Philadelphia is a terrifying exhibit—two human skeletons. Their bones appear to have melted and fused together. One of the skeletons has its back covered by sheets of bone, locking the spine to the skull, and the skull to the jaw.  The deceased owners of these skeletons suffered from an extremely rare and debilitating condition called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), or Münchmeyer disease. Victims suffering from FOP have their muscles, tendons, and ligaments gradually turned to bone, until the sufferer becomes rigid and unable to move.