A live heart bypass operation, which is scheduled to be broadcast on 29 January from the Science Museum’s Dana Centre in London, has been condemned by medical experts as a ‘dubious’ exercise in attention-seeking.

The £9.8m Dana Centre was opened in November 2003 and marketed as the first science museum ‘exclusively for adults’. It promised to lift taboos on even the most sensitive scientific subjects, claiming that no subject would be off limits, no matter how controversial.

The operation is due to be performed in a New Jersey hospital and then beamed onto large video screens at the South Kensington centre. The 100 tickets for the screening of the live heart bypass operation have already sold out.

Throughout the operation, which is expected to last around three hours, the surgeons will wear microphones and answer questions.

Museum director, Lindsay Sharp, defended the decision to screen the operation. “The Dana Centre is a unique, innovative venue which delivers science in a very different way,” she said.

Programmes co-ordinator, Lisa Jamieson, added: "If people are coming for shock value then they will be disappointed.

“The medical teams are absolutely professional and there is far less gore than one might expect. A nurse will be on hand specifically to talk the audience through the process and there is a slight time delay just in case there are any problems. The Dana centre aims to engage the public in informed discussion about contemporary science issues and Cardiac Classroom is an excellent opportunity to include heart disease on this agenda."

However, Professor Sir Charles George, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, questioned the need for a live broadcast at all. “The wisdom of a live broadcast is somewhat dubious,” he said.

“Any such procedure can occasionally give rise to problems and, were that to happen, it would be bound to create unnecessary strain for people who might be on a waiting list for similar procedures. Furthermore, almost inevitably it will place additional strain on the operator, which could affect his or her performance.” Details: www.danacentre.org.uk or www.bhf.org.uk