Djuna Elkan
4/6/14
Capstone
Research Review of Moral Considerations of Body Donation
This article discusses the ethics and autonomy of body donation, as well as the
acquisition of remains at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility by
creating a more scientifically accurate way of identifying human remains. Angie Christensen, the
lead forensic anthropologist for the FBI, gives the reader a general idea of what issues are
concerning body donation process at this facility, and how others view the ethical choices that
Dr. Bass (creator of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Anthropology Research Facility;
i.e. the “Body Farm”) and his colleagues follow. The article is focused toward people looking to
donate their bodies to this field, as well as people looking to join the field of forensic
anthropology. Due to the many new television shows that portray how murders and other bodies
can be found, many people have a new interest in forensic body donation. The ethics of body
donation is constantly question based on religious and physical aspects that can be seen as a
threat to individual autonomy (not getting consent for an individuals body to be used for
science). This is partially how the Anthropology Research Facility (ARF) obtains the remains
they use for their studies. Because Christensen works for the FBI her paper can be seems as
though she is promoting the school, and the ethics that they argue. As well as, promoting the
donation of human remains to science, which could help fix the problem of having to use
remains without the proper consent.
Christensen examines some of the unique ethical issues associated with donation to this
institution, with particular respect to the concepts of voluntarism, consent, and autonomy, and
explaining how other facilities deal with the same issues. In the field of forensic anthropology
the ethics of how body donation occurs is highly debated because of the concern of how the
remains are obtained. In the United Kingdom, the Human Tissues Act prohibits the handling of
human tissues even after death, except for very specific circumstances. Which does not upset the
ethical boundaries of body donation itself. Although in schools, it forces the institutions to use
older tissue samples that have gone through the process of becoming legal to research on.
There are few research facilities around the United States and in South Africa that have
chosen to use human tissue and maintain the scientific understanding of death through
postmortem observation of humans. Christensen argues that the reason for using human remains
gives forensic anthropologists the opportunity to find identifying information faster, and more
accurately. She also makes it clear that by examining human body through donations gives the
field of forensic anthropology this opportunity. But this is not what everyone feels when
discussing the autonomy of unclaimed remains. Families also can sometimes disagree to this
type of donation due to the unsatisfying feeling of what their loved ones bodies will be used for
in the field, which for the most part is something that many religious people have a problem
with. An even more crippling thought is that of when bodies are not claimed by any families and
are left for the medical examiner. This becomes an issue because the amount of unclaimed
bodies is very high. It is the main source of studied remains at the University of Tennessee. The
medical examiners, because they don’t study the deceased or have anywhere to put them are
forced to find an ethical means to this dilemma. It is an unfortunate way to deal with these types
of remains, and Christensen shows her stance of agreement with this ethical issue entails.
The way that bodies are acquired is a topic that is highly debated even within our own
country, between different religions, and how people generally perceive being laid to rest, the
acquisition of the remains is very important to people, and changing their mind to do something
like this is not always in the best interest of their family. This article refers to the reasons for why
the University of Tennessee uses these techniques to acquire individuals to study, and add to the
collection of data within the forensic field. As well as, why this way of donation and acquisition
is necessary in our society and the use of these human tissues to be used for scientific study. The
information given contains many of Christensen’s personal feelings toward the facility, as well
as the facilitators of the body donation facilities around the country and world. Other facilities
such as Texas State University come across many of the same ethical issues, and there is a
specific reason in the UK of why they continue to follow the Human Tissues Act. By giving as
much information about the ethics behind the use of the Anthropology Research Facility at the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and why they are questioned, Christensen explains the
material of this article thoroughly, and gives solid answers to what she can regarding the ethical
issues of donation, and the taking of unclaimed human remains. She expresses that while the
decomposition and areas of research that the facility honors, might not be in the taste of some
individuals, but that the remains that are donated can give new meaning to others who perish as
victims to crimes or the deceased themselves.
Unfortunately, the arguments toward the material of this article are more political than
anything else. Which gives rise to the issue of when, and what types of tissue donation are
actually ethical? And, if the government should be given the power to allow body donation? The
United States gives the power to use tissue donation to the states through the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act that was passed in 1987. This gave individual families the option to donate
their bodies to science, making body donation legal, and easier to obtain by medical schools and
eventually forensic research facilities. It is a very important part of the field that would make, as
we see in the UK, understanding the decomposition of human remains at a much more advanced
pace, giving a faster identification time of the victim. By continuing this type of research, any
type of coroner’s case can be identified faster. And by extending the scientific data of how the
human body works within nature, can resolve some of the hesitation from body donation to the
field of forensics. This research does not give the debate over unclaimed body donation enough
reasoning. Christensen understands that many of the donated bodies must be unclaimed so that
there can be research done as quickly as possible, but without consent should it really be legal to
take anothers deceased body.