Ethical Use of the Human Body for Teaching Anatomy is not Transgressive

Moxham, Bernard, Pais, Diogo, Plaisant, Odile and Kramer, Beverley 2025. Ethical Use of the Human Body for Teaching Anatomy is not Transgressive. Annals of Anatomy , 152736. 10.1016/j.aanat.2025.152736

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Abstract

A transgressive act is one that breaks a moral code, going beyond what are acceptable boundaries of taste and decorum. In this regard, the history of anatomy, although illustrious, is also inglorious as body snatching by resurrectionists and the anatomisation of convicted and executed prisoners is nowadays universally condemned and recognised as being transgressive. The public display of anatomised bodies in contemporary times, whether the bodies are obtained legally, is controversial and is arguably transgressive, as is the dissection of unclaimed bodies for the education of healthcare professionals. It has also been claimed that, even when bodies are obtained from donors who have given informed consent, anatomical dissection for the education of healthcare workers involves transgressive behaviour that does not fit with modern concepts of a caring, life-enhancing practitioner. Consequently, there are medical schools that do not have anatomy dissection rooms, and the use of digitalised anatomical imagery is advocated as a more moral pedagogic tool. However, not all the digitised images emanate from consented individuals. In this article, we argue that the public display of anatomised bodies (including the display and publication of images without informed consent) and the use of unclaimed bodies for dissection is transgressive. We are of the opinion that the dissection of human bodies obtained through a donor programme for pedagogic purposes need not be transgressive if due respect is accorded the donated bodies and if the students benefitting from the experience are properly controlled, well-informed about the ethical issues, and the process considers issues relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Biosciences
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: Title: This article is under embargo with an end date yet to be finalised.
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0940-9602
Date of Acceptance:	18 September 2025
Last Modified:	24 Sep 2025 08:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181301

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