Unique Uses For Bodies Donated To Science

[Luke T.]

Bodies intended for science were used in Army land-mine tests. (http://www.marinetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2722240.php)

The anatomical services company sold seven cadavers to the Army for between $25,000 and $30,000, said Chuck Dasey, a spokesman for the Army’s Medical Research and Materiel Command in Fort Detrick, Md. The bodies were blown up in tests on protective footwear against land mines at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

This begs for a Monty Python sketch.


For years military researchers have bought cadavers to use in research involving explosive devices. In the last five years, that research has been used to help determine safe standoff distances, on how to build the best shelters, and to improve helmets, Dasey said.

Make sure you read the fine print before donating your body to science!


Michael Meyer, a philosophy professor at Santa Clara University in California who has written about the ethics of donated bodies, said the military’s use is questionable because it knows donors did not expect to end up in land mine tests.

“Imagine if your mother had said all her life that she wanted her body to be used for science, and then her body was used to test land mines. I think that is disturbing, and I think there are some moral problems with deception here,� Meyers said.

[peptoabysmal]

Mixed emotions on this one. Aren't the one's used in the military experiments being used to save lives as well?

[Jas]

It's my understanding that they'v traditionally used cadavers in automobile crash tests, and still do, even with crash test dummies available.

[bug_girl]

you guys have got to go read Stiff. it's a great book, all about the different uses of cadavers.
i highly recommend it.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach
From Publishers Weekly
"Uproariously funny" doesn't seem a likely description for a book on cadavers. However, Roach, a Salon and Reader's Digest columnist, has done the nearly impossible and written a book as informative and respectful as it is irreverent and witty. From her opening lines ("The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back"), it is clear that she's taking a unique approach to issues surrounding death. Roach delves into the many productive uses to which cadavers have been put, from medical experimentation to applications in transportation safety research (in a chapter archly called "Dead Man Driving") to work by forensic scientists quantifying rates of decay under a wide array of bizarre circumstances.

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by Luke T.

Make sure you read the fine print before donating your body to science!


The idea that they may blow it up makes me in some way more likely to donante the ol' bloated meatbag once I shuffle off the mortal coil. I wonder if I can get fine print put in where they use my dead body in some sort of violent dramatic way. Isn't like I'd notice.

Then again I always thought a good funeral service for me would be the "Funeral Roast" sketch from that fine piece of cinema "Amazon Women on the Moon" (an 80's update of the classic "Kentucky Fried Movie"). So my attitudes towards these sort of things may be out of step with most people.

[MLynn]

I re-affirm my decision to be cremated and buried in a garden - I'd rather be plant food! ;)

[pgwenthold]

Originally posted by Suddenly


The idea that they may blow it up makes me in some way more likely to donante the ol' bloated meatbag once I shuffle off the mortal coil. I wonder if I can get fine print put in where they use my dead body in some sort of violent dramatic way.

I don't know. I'm torn between that and "Dead Body Decay" forensic research facility in Tennessee.

How cool would it be to rot in a garbage bag in the trunk of a car for 6 weeks, all in the name of science?

These are the reasons why I am donating my body to science.

[Mycroft]

Well, this is science. It's just not medical science.

[Iconoclast]

Originally posted by Jas
It's my understanding that they'v traditionally used cadavers in automobile crash tests, and still do, even with crash test dummies available. Sort of. The only real way to work out what size impulse is required to fracture (say) a human sternum is to hit one until it breaks. The same goes for working out what forces are necessary to move the brain far enough to contact the inside of the skull.

The first ever automotive crash test program was named "Project Barbecue" as it involved an adult pig that was spit roasted and eaten by the testers after they'd tenderised it. The tests involved sedating the pig (an adult pig has roughly the same body size as a male adult) and sitting it in an upright position in a harness not unlike a playground swing. The pig was then repeatedly smashed into a steering wheel and column assembly from an automobile and the forces required to break the ribcage were measured.

So, crash test dummies are great, but they need calibration data that only a real dead body can provide. One of the problems here is with crash testing of baby capsules and automotive child restraints. The only data collected from crash testing infant and child cadavers was (from memory) obtained in the late 50s in Germany, and their use has now been banned. While the thought of a child's body being smashed apart in a crash test is mortifying to most of us, the lack of crash test data makes designing new, effective child restraints difficult.

This is one of those issues with no really palatable answers.


[edited to add the Project Barbeque anecdote]

[Luke T.]

The anatomical services company sold seven cadavers to the Army for between $25,000 and $30,000

Somebody's making a buck here. I wonder if you can sell your body and make a little cash before you die. Only seems fair.

[Luke T.]

Originally posted by pgwenthold


I don't know. I'm torn between that and "Dead Body Decay" forensic research facility in Tennessee.

How cool would it be to rot in a garbage bag in the trunk of a car for 6 weeks, all in the name of science?

These are the reasons why I am donating my body to science.

"Yes, I think I'm going to go with one of the Gangland Slaying options, but I can't decide between 'Sleeps With The Fishes,' 'One Way Ride To New Jersey,' or 'Spam In The Bag.'"

"Have you checked out our specials this week? You get a bonus for 'Popper At The Fleabag Motel.'"

"Ah. I forgot about those."

*Looks at brightly colored flyer*

"I think I'll take the 'Dumpster Surprise.'"

"Excellent choice. Sign here."