Recently, a young friend of mine approached me to discuss whole body donation. “The thought of it disturbs me,” she said. “I get a little squeamish thinking about what might happen to my body even though I am no longer here.”

As unnerved as she may have sounded, this young lady understood that if she could get past her misperceptions, her body had the potential to save many lives. She knew that many important advances in medical treatment such as the early diagnosis of cancer, new treatment for Alzheimer’s, less invasive surgical methods for brain tumors, and more effective lumbar spine surgery all rely on surgeons and researchers having access to human tissue to conduct research and training.

Despite her knowledge and her desire to benefit others she still was uncertain about donating her body. The ethical dilemma my friend was grappling with is quite common in our society. People are more willing to donate blood and even organs in part because they immediately understand the benefit to others of such a gift. Unfortunately, for many individuals the benefits of donating their body to medical research are less obvious. At the same time, there also is the question of what happens to our tissues and body.

Where to Donate

There are better and worse organizations you can turn to when you make the decision to donate your body to science. The American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) is a good place to start to find an ethical, and accredited program. AATB requires members to meet strict standards for record keeping, and the distribution and processing of human tissue. The AATB also sets ethical guidelines for the recovery of cells and tissues in a manner that respects the family’s expectation, and to avoid distributing tissues and cells in a discriminatory manner. I recommend that donors and family members ask what practices the program has in place to prevent human tissue from being treated disrespectfully.

Along with strict guidelines mandating proper treatment of the tissue, many medical schools and training centers like the one at Science Care take steps to ensure the dignity of the donor as a show of respect to the gift the donor has afforded them.

For Profit

At this juncture, I noted some resistance from my young listener. “Why should I donate my body to a company who will probably be making money from it?” she queried. It is an understandable question because many people find the idea of others profiting financially from their donation to be problematic. The truth however is that almost all medicine and scientific research entails profit making. This is true for donations of both blood and organs for transplantation. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. In many instances this speeds the development of new and improved techniques, and medical options by generating the financial capital that is necessary for such advances. Ultimately this leads to saving and improving more lives rather than less. The fact that a body donation program, or a surgeon, or a company developing new medical procedures makes money does not mean they are unethical.

Organ Donation

Donating your body to science does not mean that you cannot also be an organ donor. If your organs are suitable for donation, you can do so and still be able to donate your body to science. In many cases, people who may wish to donate organs discover that they do not qualify. They may want to consider donating their body to science as another way to contribute to the wellbeing of others.

Religion

Finally, while some individuals are concerned that organ and tissue donation might go against their religious values this is rarely the case. Most major religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism recognize and allow for organ and tissue donation. In fact, most religions explicitly support those who choose to donate because they recognize such donations as acts of generosity that stem from one’s concern for others.

There are many ways we can contribute to society. Donating our time and money, even blood, are the ones that immediately come to mind. The benefits of these have been amply discussed and articulated. Less familiar to all of us and to my young friend is organ and whole-body donation as a way we can give and contribute late in our lives to help others.

Greg Loeben, Ph.D., is the Coordinator of the Bioethics Program in Arizona for Midwestern University. The Bioethics program teaches critical thinking and reasoning skills to help reasonable people think through ethical dilemmas. Loeben also is a member of the Advisory Board at Science Care, the first accredited whole-body donor program in the United States.