Nearly 20,000 people in the United States alone each year choose to donate their bodies to scientific research after death. The Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health has already drawn up a list that includes organs that can be donated to scientific research, which are the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver, intestines, and hands. And the face, and some tissues can also be donated, such as stem cells, blood, heart valves, and the cornea of the eye.
Pamela White, director of the autopsy and corpse donation program at Newcastle University in England, says that the first step in order to donate is to meet the strict standards set by scientific bodies that accept this type of donation.
White explains in statements to the Popular Science website, which specializes in scientific research, that age is not considered an important criterion for accepting a donation, but the age of the donor at death may affect the chances of accepting the body.
She added, “Some people apply to donate when they are 40 years old, but we cannot know their health and physical condition when they reach 70 or 80 years old, meaning that the donor may contract infectious diseases that spread in the body before death and lead to his exclusion.”
White points out that some institutions set a standard for the weight of the body at death, as it is often not possible to accept a body weighing more than 180 to 200 pounds, or it can be measured according to the body mass index, as it is also one of the standards used to analyze the health condition of the deceased before he dies. .
Embalming the corpse
Isobel Duckling, director of the anatomy technical team at Newcastle University, explains that if the body is accepted, the funeral director receives the body from the party that will receive it, then a team of specialists embalms it within 4 hours by injecting an amount of between two and four gallons of fluids containing formaldehyde. Inside the main arteries of the corpse, it is then stored for a period ranging between 6 and 8 weeks, before it is ready to be used for scientific research or medical study.
Duckling said in statements to the Popular Science website that one of the important considerations that should be taken into account is that the donor determine how his body will be used after death, as some people prefer to use the body for the purposes of training in modern surgical methods, drug testing, or decomposition studies.
Others prefer to direct the body to accident tests to measure security and safety standards in cars.
If the purposes of medical studies are chosen, the body will be delivered to one of the scientific bodies or medical colleges, where students will dissect it for the purpose of acquiring surgical skills and direct knowledge of the anatomical features of the human body.
Newcastle University also allows the donor to choose the time period during which his body can be used, as some prefer to leave the body with the research body indefinitely, while others choose to return the body to the relatives of the deceased after a specific period of time.
Duckling explains, “In this case, we take measures to cremate the body, and we contact the relatives of the deceased to attend the funeral ceremony.”
Duckling stresses the university administration’s keenness to take care of the body while it is subjected to scientific research or educational anatomy work, as at least two members from the university must be present while handling the body, and restrictions and oversight measures are imposed on places where bodies and donated human organs are stored.
It must be taken into account that the regulatory rules for donating bodies differ from one country to another and from one organization to another as well, noting that some of these services are non-profit, and are often affiliated with American universities, while the goal of others is to make money.
Geographic basis
Given the importance of speed and timing when dealing with donated bodies, the scope of work of these services is distributed on a geographical basis. If the donor registers with the University of California, for example, and later changes his place of residence to another state, he must then register his new address on the program so that The new party responsible for receiving the body upon death must reach it as soon as possible.
A recent study that included 72 body donation services in various parts of the United States revealed that most of these programs do not allow the donor to choose the period of keeping his body after death, or do not provide a wide choice between different types of scientific research in order to benefit from the body, and therefore donors who wish to Donating their bodies after death to specific research bodies must be careful when choosing the service they contract with.
For her part, Duckling points out that the motives for donating a body usually differ from one person to another, and she explains, “We have recently discovered that more people are turning to donating their bodies due to the high costs of funerals and burial ceremonies.”
She stresses that “regardless of the motives, donating a body for scientific research is considered a tremendous charitable act.”
In turn, White says, “The profound impact of this generosity will last through scientific benefits that serve future generations.”