The case of the leaky cadavers

A television station's investigation into a display of plasticized human bodies has alerted health officials to an eerie discovery: The corpses are apparently leaking.

In San Francisco, KGO-TV's probe of an exhibit called "The Universe Within" at the Nob Hill Masonic Center has the city's Department of Public Health taking a closer look. Fluid is beading on the surface of the bodies, and tests are being run on that fluid.

KGO and the San Francisco Chronicle both report that, besides worries about a possible health risk, there are also questions about whether the bodies were obtained ethically.

The Masonic Center display is one of many modeled after the successful touring "Body Worlds" exhibit, which earlier this year had a showing at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Body Worlds featured bodies preserved by a technique called plastination, originated by Dr. Gunther von Hagens three decades ago. In plastination, reactive polymers (such as silicone rubber, epoxy resins or polyester) replace water and fat content and then harden to retain tissue structures.

But the bodies--and various body parts--aren't simply preserved. They're also posed and often opened up to display the muscle, nerve and bone structures. In the words of the Web site for "The Universe Within," the showcase "literally as well as figuratively goes 'under the skin,' exposing the complexity of the human body..."