I See Dead People: They're on Exhibit!

What is that sick instinct that makes drivers slow down at the site of a car accident? Is it just plain curiosity, or do they hope to see mutilated bodies? If you can relate, then a new exhibit in New York may be just the thing for you.

Premier Exhibitions Inc. presents Bodies...the Exhibition, an exhibit that puts authentic human remains on display for all to see. For just 24.95 (18.50 for children) you can see such exhibits as a skinless music conductor, a set of conjoined fetuses, a woman vertically sliced into into four pieces, plus a set of male genitalia. 

As you can probably tell, this anatomy textbook come to life is not for the squeamish, but this is not the first time that cadavers have been put on display. A smaller version of this show has occurred in Tampa at MOSI (The Museum of Science and Industry), which resulted in obvious controversy. Many religious leaders condemned the show, and even the state attorney general was equally appalled. However, the show was not shut down and drew large crowds. 

Controversy has also arisen about the origin of the cadavers themselves. Especially when the bodies were all obtained from China, a nation infamous for its human-rights abuses. Arnie Geller, the president of Premier Exhibitions, Inc., says that all the specimens were “legally obtained”. The exhibition company paid twenty-five million dollars for specimens from a Chinese University, and that the bodies are those of the poor, unclaimed, and unidentified. 

China has been implicated for supplying bodies to a similar exhibit called “World of Bodies”. This show, sponsored by Gunter von Hagens, was the first to display the dead. Dr. Von Hagen's Chinese partner, Dr. Sul Hongjin, now works with Premier Exhibitions. You can't help but wonder if the bodies in “Bodies” were obtained in a similar manner.

As I did my research on this exhibition, there were a few questions that I could not find answers for.

1. How are the bodies perserved?