Genemans felt a bit nauseous during his visit to the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF), but there is mainly fascination on social media. Reactions on Facebook range from ‘very interesting and impressive’ to ‘heavy to see’.
Texas is exploring how the human body decomposes after death in a variety of ways to advance science and test police murder scenarios. For example, researchers monitor the decomposition of the body when it lies above the ground in full sun, test what happens to a body in a car fire and measure how human remains are spread by wild animals in an area.
In this video Genemans tells more about his visit to FARF:
In the Netherlands, research is also being conducted into the decomposition of the human body. This knowledge is important for forensic research. “I often hear from people: haven’t we known this for a long time? But actually we don’t know it at all,” Roelof-Jan Oostra tells RTL News. He is professor of Anatomy and Embryology and facilitates the Dutch scientific cemetery for researchers from all over Europe.
Donated bodies
Next to the Amsterdam UMC there is a field where decomposition studies are carried out. It’s called the Amsterdam Research Initiative for Sub-Surface Taphonomy and Anthropology, or Arista. ‘Sub-surface’, below the surface, because there is no permission to place the bodies above the ground, as in Texas.
“When we started in 2018, it was all still very new. No one really knew what kind of inconvenience it could possibly cause for commuting and work in the area,” says Oostra. “You are in a densely populated part of the Netherlands.”
The people buried close to the ground have voluntarily donated their bodies to science. Anyone in the Netherlands can choose to make their body available to science instead of burial or cremation. Through a handwritten will this can be recorded before death.
Most donated bodies are used for education. In addition, surgeons use bodies to practice certain skills and operations. Scientific research, such as in Amsterdam, is therefore also an option.
“There are currently ten bodies,” says Oostra. People who donate their bodies to science cannot choose where they end up. Arista is a slight exception in that respect, because donors can indicate that they do not want to end up in the scientific cemetery. “Conversely, it is not possible to specifically opt for this type of decomposition research,” says Oostra.
Bury sensors
Because the field is used for multiple studies, the bodies are also studied in different ways. One of the options is to bury temperature and humidity sensors. This allows researchers to learn more about the influence of temperatures and moisture on the decomposition process of the human body.
Another option is to raise a leg, for example, so that the body part is closer to the surface. “Then you can take biopsies from time to time without significantly disrupting the decomposition process,” Oostra explains. In this way, decomposition can be properly monitored.
Indirect measurements are also made, for example by monitoring plant growth in the area surrounding the body. “You can’t see that with the naked eye, but you can detect those changes with specific, sensitive cameras.” For example, if the police are looking for a body, information about the vegetation can help with the search.
Above ground
The body farm that Ewout Genemans visited in Texas is therefore different from Arista in Amsterdam. The main difference is the above-ground decomposition process, which is not investigated in the Netherlands. Although the image of bodies in cages in full sunlight may be the most striking, many more studies are being conducted in the United States.
For example, experiments are being done with house and car fires by placing donated bodies in such burning environments.
The large body farm is also used to simulate police scenarios. When police think they know how someone died, investigators in Texas can recreate that situation with donated bodies. It is then checked whether it matches what the police found at the crime scene.
Donated body rejected
Anyone in the Netherlands can draw up a will to donate the body to science after death. However, it may happen that the body is not accepted after death by one of the eight Anatomy departments in the Netherlands.
If a person dies unnaturally, for example through an accident, fire or murder, the body is rejected. It is then confiscated or an internal investigation is carried out. In that case the body is no longer useful for science. Relatives are responsible for reporting the death to scientific institutions in a timely manner. Even if a will has been drawn up, it is up to the surviving relatives to report the death to the Anatomy department within 24 hours of death. After 24 hours the risk is too great that the decomposition process has already started. Sometimes a body cannot be accepted because there is too little capacity.
Bron: Amsterdam UMC
2023-09-09 14:47:19
#field #full #decomposing #bodies #research #body #farm #works
