Many U.S. medical schools are seeing a surge in the number people leaving their bodies to science. The trend is being attributed to rising funeral costs and growing acceptance of a practice long seen by some as ghoulish.
Medical students and researchers dissect cadavers in anatomy class or use them to practice surgical techniques or test new devices and procedures.
Eighty-two-year-old Milton Larson, a science teacher, left his body to the University of Minnesota. His wife, Jean, says she was uncomfortable with the thought of his body getting cut up. But she says his decision was his "last act of teaching and generosity."
