Graveyards and cremation are old school
Mikey 3 comments
According to this article on CNN, there has been an increase in the number of people signing up to donate their deceased bodies for the Plastination process, a method whereby the fluids and fat are replaced with a special plastic and placed on display.
One woman, Erlyene Toney-Alvarez says:
"I thought, since I like to think outside the box, this would be a really good way to preserve our bodies instead of the typical funeral... It's also something I can go to my death feeling good about, like I made a contribution to humankind."
Although the concept of donating your body to science is not new, Gunther Von Hagens (the inventor and patent owner of the Plastination process) offers an alternative to the typical scenario that would see your body in the hands of surgeons in training.
Despite some sceptics claiming the legitimacy in which Von Hagens has obtained the bodies, he insists he does everything by the book relying heavily on donations, unlike a similar exhibition which recently confessed it had obtained corpses that "might be victims of torture or execution from Chinese prisons".
Said Von Hagens:
"It is very, very important for the donors to know the purpose of the exhibit, that it is not entertainment, it is education and enlightenment. I have to be in peace with those on display."
Gary
Wednesday 2nd July 2008 | 08:46 AMI'm still stumped as to why this guy's show is on sbs. Shouldn't this stuff be kept in the classroom? It's not entertainment, unless you're a bit sick in the head. Having said that, my uncle donated his body to science, I would do the same but not if it's going to be aired on television for people to watch during dinner.
mini-mel
Wednesday 2nd July 2008 | 04:14 PMi remember first seeing this guy on foxtel... i thought it was a tad on the weird side of things, but it is also pretty interesting. being an ex vet-nurse, i loved watching and performing operations (the other half is totally perplexed by the fact i can sit and eat dinner while watching someone getting cut open and not be phased)
i've always been into medical things, and once i looked into this more, found in quite fascinating. some ppl will be creeped out by it, thats totally natural.. i didnt get around to seeing the exhibition when it came to perth, but believe it was un-real..
im not too sure about handing my body over to science tho. i realise im going to be doing nothing with it (well, besides getting crisped in a very hot oven once i cark it) other than donating all the vital bits to ppl who need it, i think its the fact that your body is dissected into different bits, floated in some funky fluids and left to hang around for 6 years or so while some student plays silly buggers with it.. i know i did when we had to see how animals "ticked"
Nikki
Wednesday 2nd July 2008 | 08:09 AMI'd commit myself to this. It would save the expense of a burial on my family and I get to help science at the same time. Win win!