Corpses Gain a New Life

Human anatomy displays are not for the squeamish, but are they immoral?

Is the exhibition of corpses an effective way to popularize life sciences or an immoral act seeking financial gain?

A recent exhibition of human corpses named “Body Worlds” held in Beijing is the first of its kind in China, and has predictably stirred up widespread criticism and controversy in all walks of life.

It is reported that the display featured 17 whole human bodies and more than 160 body parts and organs, including jaws, phalanxes, hearts, spleens and lungs, as well as the digestive system, nerve system and other systems. The exhibition aims at presenting the real structure and function of the human body to the public.

The corpses are preserved with the plasticization technology, which replaces fluids and fats in bodies with special plastic materials, so as to make specimens appear more lifelike. Sources said that up to now, the special technology has been widely used by more than 400 units in 40 countries, playing roles in various fields including anatomy, histology, embryology and pathology.

To attract visitors, the Biological Plasticization Co. Ltd. under the Dalian Medical University, organizer of the exhibition, used a series of advertisements at subway stations and other public places. Asked whether the exhibition would be displayed in other Chinese cities, the organizer said they would base that decision on the feedback of Beijing visitors.

Some people criticize the exhibition, saying the practice of displaying corpses in public and charging an entrance fee is inhuman, and could therefore not be accepted by Chinese society. These detractors believe that human bodies and specimens should only be used for scientific study and teaching, and not for commercial purposes. Those applauding the exhibition believe this kind of initiative will help people gain more scientific acknowledge about the human body.

Not Suitable for Everyone

Zhai Xiaomei (Associate Professor at Peking Union Medical College): I will feel comfortable if human bodies and organs are used as specimens in dissecting rooms of a medical institute for study or research by students or doctors. However, displaying them before the public for other purposes is a different matter.

I agree that scientists can make use of human specimens for popular science education. That’s their social responsibility. I am just concerned about whether body donors know what their remains would be used for before they die. For example, all human specimens in our college are provided by volunteer donors. There is a a strict donation procedure that requires notarized applications that specify the purposes for the use of their bodies.

A lot of body donors clearly expressed in applications that their remains should be used for medical study and education. Hence, any act beyond that purpose will go against donors’ wills. I will never accept this kind of immoral activity.

According to the organizer of this exhibition, apart from gaining profits, this also gives the public more opportunity to know more about the human body, hence it does not violate the will of the deceased, who may have left his body to science. I disagree with this idea. On the contrary, I’m afraid doing so will have a negative impact on future body donations. It is important to make the distinction between pure medical research and study on the one hand, and commercial and profitable activities on the other.

Chen Tianmin (expert in medical ethics): Displaying corpses in public for money is against social morality. Nowadays, it looks as if anything becomes possible for the sake of pursuing profits. I still insist that human bodies or specimens should only be used for teaching and scientific research. In China, people will not accept such inhuman commercial activity as a corpse exhibition.

Chen Shaofeng (Professor of Philosophy at Peking University): Exhibiting corpses without gaining permission from the donors or their relatives should be considered immoral. Such an act may be regarded as one that abuses donors’ goodwill for public welfare undertakings. If medical schools provide donated corpses for exhibition, they should be held accountable for their actions.

This debacle proves that we need to set up a complete procedure in body donation. We should use legal means to protect donors’ wills. For instance, formulating related laws on specimen utilization will help prevent similar problems. In addition, we should clearly explain donation purposes to donors and their families.

Xu Zongliang (Professor of Life Sciences and Ethics at Fudan University): The corpse exhibition has little positive influence. It can’t provide visitors with all the knowledge about life sciences, and people can gain the information about human structure and function in a much simpler and less intrusive format. Moreover, the deceased should have their dignity. In our country compulsory blood donation and human organ donation are encouraged, while the trade of body parts is prohibited.

Zhao Ziqin (Vice Chairman of the Forensic Medicine Association of Shanghai): I think it’s unnecessary to display real human bodies to popularize science. By using artificial materials, we are just as capable of making vivid human specimens, which can also help popularize related knowledge.

Li Yan (a visitor): I learned human body structure in school. But I don’t want my son to visit the exhibition although he is over 10 years old. In my opinion, a human specimen exhibition like this is not suitable for all people. Some specimens looked so terrible that could scare children. We should clearly distinguish popular science for ordinary people and anatomy knowledge for professional medical staff.

A Way to Popularize Science

Qin Dulie (Professor with the Biomedical Engineering Institute of the Capital University of Medical Sciences): Like the practice of gratifying people’s curiosity about the mystery of nature, displaying human specimens is just aiming to unveil the mystery of human anatomy.

Chen Kequan (Vice Chairman of the Chinese Anatomical Association): Using special technology to plasticize bodies does not mean destroying them. The dead are still making a contribution to scientific study. Such a move has nothing to do with ethics.

Sui Hongjin (Professor at the Biomedical Plasticization Co. Ltd. of the Dalian Medical University): I totally disagree with Professor Zhai’s opinion. It’s true we charge entrance fees for the exhibition. However, doing so is to help improve the exhibition, not for commercial purposes. The aim of our exhibition is to give people more of a chance to fully understand the human body and its function, so as to have a scientific cognition about life and death.

To me, scientific researchers have two main tasks. One is to conduct scientific study and the other is to popularize sciences. In fact, the human specimen exhibition aims at making more people understand new technology, hence it belongs to one aspect of medical education.

If just telling people there is a new technology that is useful for medical education, but failing to provide actual and persuasive examples, the public will not believe it. I hope the human specimen exhibition can help the public to understand the special plasticization technology, and at the same time, to make it more useful in various fields.

The direct show of real human corpses is very helpful for ordinary people to get to know their own bodies. Although controversies on the exhibition do exist, we think it’s a normal phenomenon. After all, social knowledge always lags behind scientific progress, and getting the public to accept new things takes time. For example, when test-tube technology was first adopted, many people considered it going against social morality, as it has changed the natural process of reproduction. But most people can accept the technology now. So we shouldn’t abandon new technologies just because people cannot accept them initially.

The corpses displayed are provided by different medical schools through legal procedures. Currently, human specimens in medical schools are mainly made available via donated and unidentified bodies. It is a common international practice. Medical schools usually use unidentified bodies for anatomy. We have no donated specimens on show this time, but I hope the exhibition will advance China’s body donation work.

In addition, we simply display the beauty and integrity of human bodies, without adding any creation. In that case, the exhibition shows our respects to corpses. Moreover, we attached great importance to disposing remains and give full consideration to every human specimen before dissecting. We also hold bowing ceremonies to show our respect to those unidentified bodies.