Would you dig up a dead body from a cemetery in the name of science
It might sound like something from a horror movie, but in the 18th and 19th centuries, doctors and medical students across Europe, especially in Britain, were doing exactly that. They stole corpses from graveyards, dissected them in anatomy schools, and sold them to researchers who wanted to learn more about the human body.
This dark and disturbing practice was a key part of the story of modern medicine. Without these stolen bodies, doctors could never have developed the understanding of anatomy that allows modern surgery and medical treatment to exist today.
In this Halloween special episode of Thinking in English, I want to explore how the development of modern medical science depended on this trade in human remains.
We’ll discuss the resurrectionists were, what happened during the shocking Burke and Hare murders in Scotland, and how public outrage eventually led to new laws and ethical debates about science, death, and morality.
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In my opinion, since bodies are already dead it is best for them to be utilized in some useful ways, including for the advance of medical knowledge. I fed my favorite dormouse Andrei’s body to black soldier fly larvae after his death, which would turn his body into organic fertilizer.
Of course, it is important to respect the wish and religious beliefs of the bodies’ relatives.