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Hands up! Who wants to be a dead body
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-04 08:54

Channel 4 television is looking for volunteers for a documentary which will look into dead bodies during the process of decomposition.


A paleopathologist inspects the decomposed remains of a human skull. Channel Four television channel is looking for volunteers for a documentary which will look into dead bodies during the process of decomposition. [AFP/File]
"Dust to Dust", the first project of its kind in Britain, will be monitored by leading scientists who hope to improve their knowledge of human decomposition.

Channel 4 stated that the experimental documentary will be filmed in a "secure and secret location" and that the full consent of donors and their families will be required.

"The scientific community admits that they are woefully uninformed about what happens to the body when somebody dies," said Kevin Lygo, director of the independent channel.

Whilst human decomposition has been studied in the United States, to date, decomposition tests in Britain have only been carried out on pigs.

It is hoped that better knowledge of the human body's decomposition process will allow forensic pathologists to determine the time of death more accurately in murder investigations.

Channel 4 maintains that the project is purely scientific and aims to demystify death.

"It has to be completely above board," Lygo said. "There will be nothing salacious about it."

The controverial series follows an earlier Channel 4 show "Anatomy for Beginners" where German doctor Gunther von Hagens performed human dissection in a lecture theatre in Germany.



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