Of course I would donate my body to science!!!! I have even done this while I am alive! I do tests at Wash U for cash sometimes. They can’t figure me out! Perhaps it is because I lie and cheat…..

However, I do want a Viking funeral….perhaps they could do the experiments on me right after I perish, and then the scientists could build a raft-bonfire, set me aflame, and then set me adrift in the Northern Sea.

Republicans don’t like Vikings much (’cuz they are considered Pagans) and they don’t like science much either.

Sure, when I’m done with it whoever wants it can have at it.

Heck yes! I’ve actually sent in the paperwork to have my body donated to the very same thing. After I’m dead, my body is useless to me. I also really don’t want to have my body buried, rotting away and taking up space. I really can’t think of a better option than donating my body to science and learning.

Yes I would donate my body to science. Legitimate science, which bodyworlds is not. Legitimate science gathers knowledge, builds upon that knowledge to gain new knowledge, and passes it along.

Bodyworlds is simply entertainment, albeit of a particularly peculiar variety … sort of like a Tim Burton movie on crack. For what seems like forever the science center has taken out ads to publicize this exhibit - each of the ads that I saw show contorted bodies in goofy poses, often with parts of their body arranged in ways to simulate parts they never had in real life.

Maybe a better term would be performance art … except that the artist is using other people’s bodies. Perhaps these people thought they would be contributing to the advancement of science … but too bad for them they’ve grown wings and look like props from a bad movie.

@1 - grow up.

@3 and Jim Bilderback - I hope that you find a better use for your body after your passing - like maybe some real science.

Donating one’s body to science and donating one’s body to a freak show are two entirely different things. “Body Worlds” disturbs me on some deep gut reaction level. I find myself looking away from even the ads. No, I’m not squeamish. I’m not one of the kids who fainted in dissection lab. But there’s just something about this exhibit…maybe the fact that it’s for money…maybe that its creator has some views about death/no afterlife that speak volumes. To me the whole thing is blatantly obscene.

But that’s just my feeling. If people go to see this exhibit and come away enlightened, good for them. If people want to donate their bodies to this sort of venue, that’s fine with me too. Just don’t call it “science.”

Actually bodies can be donated to a place in Tennessee where they have your body laid out on the ground and they can learn a lot for police work on how to tell how you died and how long it takes for your body to rot.It is a very interesting place.I however would never allow my body to be treated like that because I am Catholic and believe in burial or cremation.

You can google to see what that place is all about.I forgot the name of it. You must pay to have your body shipped though.

re bob (4) Hey, I would even donate my body for entertainment purposes, unlike you! I see the benefits of immaturity and irresponsibility. I don’t wanna become some boring and very negative mechanized serf with a $4000 monthlybill for various child support payments!

#7 - “Mecha Serf” - That’s a classic!

Anyway, I’ve pondered this off and on for the majority of my life. In my youth, I leaned toward donating my body to science. I felt it would do some good by teaching people or being used for research. As I’ve grown older, I realize what an industry the body trade has become. Everything has value, even your dead body, and lots of people will profit from it.

Oddly, it’s not the thought of people profiting off my body (or parts of it) that really bothers me, it’s the complete lack of respect I feel is shown these bodies. I know it’s just a shell now, but at one point that was someones brother or sister, mother or father, son or daughter. And they had friends and acquaintances , people who knew them and cared about them. I think about me donating my body to science, intending it to be used by a medical school to train doctors. Unfortunately, if they have enough bodies, they could sell mine to whoever – I could end up “plasticized” and put on display in some macabre freak show. What if my wife were to see my body in that display? My daughters?

No thank you. The more I think about it, the more I lean toward cremation – the modern equivalent of Rob’s Viking funeral. At least my family could be at peace that my body is not ‘entertaining’ people in some traveling ‘medical show’.

Not until I’m dead.

I think organ donation is a better use for my remains. I’m in rob’s corner. Salvage what you can, burn the rest.

I certainly would(will, if I can). I think the costs of funerals are outrageous. We need organ donors,

Science needs our brains I have an autistic niece and if they could learn something about genetics,cause or cure I would gladly donate my body/brains this disorder is cruel .

For many years I thought of donation of my remains. Not anymore. In death, I’m going to remain my selfish self and go in the ground. Even though I’m not a very religious person, I have to believe in something. I don’t remember the bible talking about Body Works anywhere. I would think that the Body Works display would discourage people from donation of their remains. It’s really sad that a person can profit from the dead. Some of you saying other wise may change your views as you grow older.

Ten years ago, while in college, I was all set up to donate my body to science. I felt better about “society” in general then. Now, though, I am less naive, and I no longer am feeling better about “society.” Things don’t always get done as they should. Take Bishop Braxton, for example. He gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar, then the finds an “anonymous” donor to replentish the stolen money, and all is forgiven. He got caught, so he “repented”, but the money is back–so all is well! (I wonder if he also found Jesus among all these events?)

So what’s this got to do with science, and donating our bodies to science?

I wonder about what really happens to our bodies when they land in the laboratory at SLU or WU? Can we be certain that they are treated with respect, that none of the parts are sold, that “parts” don’t get mix-ed up and buried in someone else’s casket?

Suppose it really doesn’t matter. But for some reason, I’m looking a bit more critically at things, now that I’ve come to the conclusion that thieves are everywhere, that they exist in all walks of life, and that they seemingly innocuously walk among us.l

I wonder if Bishop Braxton will donate his body to science?

Body Worlds a money maker? Yes, they do make money for the exhibit to pay to transport the exhibit and continue to be able to create plastinates. But don’t think for a minute if you donate your body to science it will not be sold. Body parts are an expensive commodity, institutions and hospitals do not get them for free, they are sold, and not cheap. How do I know? I worked in a training hospital years ago and we BOUGHT cadavers and body parts, sometimes just a head, just an arm, and they didn’t come cheap. So no matter what your views are on donation, someone, somewhere is making a profit off you. And for anyone who hasn’t seen the exhibit, until you see the anatomical detail of the bodies, you cannot begin to realize what the educational value is, yes they are posed artistically, but to show the vital anatomic features. Go see it, then post an opinion.

I sure would. Maybe not for the body exhibits like those at the Science Center, after all, that’s been done and how many poses do you need to see to get the idea, but to medical schools and organ donor programs. Have that designation on my driver’s license and have for years since us two wheeling people are already known as organ donors to many. I am hearing that many medical schools already have enough pledges to keep them supplied, and the organ donor programs are where donations are really needed. I am encouraged that a lot of young folks who were taken too soon were signed up as donors at a young age. Be aware that those with some systemic diseases may not be able to donate organs. That happened to my mom when she passed from leukemia. She was so wanting to be able to help as many folks as she could and had made sure her donor paperwork was still in order when she was diagnosed. The only organs she could give were her corneas after the disease progressed, and I am sure she would be glad to know two people were helped that way. I can’t understand the objections to donations. Regulations should be strict to protect the organ supply integrity and prevent the profiteers from moving further into this industry. I’m hoping the religious leaders who still preach against donation will think twice and let people decide for themselves. It’s truly a gift that only our maker can help you give.

I am thinking about donating my body to science because my family has an inherited disease, “polycyctic kidney disease”. It would be nice to think that my worn out body could help in the search for medical treatments.

First of all, Sure I would. But once I’m dead, I guess it’s up to my family to make the call, eh? I have made it clear on my Driver’s license that I wish to be an organ donor, so why not donate the whole thing before it just returns to dust?

Do they pay you for it? I guess on top of saving money for the burial fees, if your family could even get a few bucks for the ol’ carcass, that would be a great deal.

Religiously speaking, it doesn’t matter what you do with the body, because at the resurrection, my body will be recreated into an immortal, perfect version of the one I have now, so no biggie.

Oh, and robsmyth….keep on tripping on whatever you’re smoking. Republicans love the Vikings. In fact, the Rams had to beat them to get to the SB in 2000. And I dated a Swedish au pair back in the day, so I certainly have nothing against pagan Scandinavians. And I LOVE science! God created science with a few words, and His power keeps the laws of nature in check. The thing I love most about science is that the more researchers try to figure things out, especially with cell structure and DNA, the more complex it becomes, and the more it confirms that our design is not one of chance. Life doesn’t JUST happen, my friend. You’ll see someday.

The thing I don’t like about science, is that it’s full of liars who force their evolutionistic THEORIES on people as if they were fact, especially as it pertains to trans-species evolution, which doesn’t exist and for which there is no proof, even in the fossil records. It’s a hoax. The same guys who perpetrate these theories, condemn Christianity and say that there’s no evidence, and yet there is more historical evidence of the Bible than there is of Darwinistic evolution, which by the way says that Blacks and women are inferior to Whites and men respectively. But enough on that. It’s a long debate. All I say is to do your homework and check the facts. You’ll be amazed. The more I research, the more I know that God is real and that we are amazing beings living in an amazing universe. Science is great, and God must really be awesome to be able to maintain it all with in balance and harmony.

Peace.

I won’t go until I’ve used my body up, I can’t image that I will be leaveing anything useful behind.

To Bob Lozano, just so you don’t think donating my body is going to be a waste of it, I am still planning on being an organ donor and giving all that can be used to someone who needs it. Only after that will my body be given to Body Worlds. When the time comes I may not even be accepted by Body Worlds, there is strict standards on who they will accept at the time of death. Everyone with a comment should educate themselves before making a comment about the process. For example, they will not take someone who has committed suicide or died an unnatural death. Donations are not taken lightly, your survivors will not get paid for your body, your body is not guaranteed to be turned into a plastinate, it may go to scientific research for diseases or educational facilities. So, you see, its not all about the glamor and shock value of the display, it goes a bit deeper than the uneducated public knows. Remember, it’s an individual choice, unlike the BODIES exhibition who takes unclaimed bodies without consent and puts them on display, as in the Vegas exhibition. Now THAT is to make money off the less fortunate. Everyone please do your homework before you make a stupid statement. And if you don’t want to donate, no one from Body Worlds will steal your body when your time is up.

Bob Lozano: I hope that you find a better use for your body after your passing - like maybe some real science.

Speaking as a scientist, part of “real science” is conveying our findings and making the wonder of nature more accessible to the public. “Real science” sates curiosity and answers questions (not to mention raising new ones) from Nobel Prize winners to toddlers. Body Worlds is part of that educational process. The exhibit may not necessarily be experimental or predictive but it illustrates on a viscerally-engaging level questions all we conceited humans have: how do we work?

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