New Body Worlds exhibit shocks audiences

The creator of the world's most popular and controversial traveling attraction is at it again. Gunther von Hagens, whose "Body Worlds" exhibit has received more than 28 million visitors, recently opened a show in Berlin that features dead embryos, corpses of children in various stages of development and a pair of adult corpses copulating.

Von Hagens' "The Cycle of Life," like all of his attractions, displays a technique called plastination, in which corpses are preserved and dissected for display. But the corpses are more than specimens: They're positioned doing everyday activities - playing the saxophone, reading a book and, in this case, having sex.

"Death and sex are both taboo topics," von Hagens said in a statement earlier this year. "I'm bringing them together."

While it is unclear if "The Cycle of Life" will ever reach the United States, von Hagens says that he is already planning a new show dedicated solely to corpses having sex.

Von Hagens has been perfecting the technique of plastination since 1977, and spin-offs of the original 1995 "Body Worlds" exhibit reflect his team's progress. By replacing the water in specimens with silicon rubber or epoxy resin, scientists are able to dissect corpses to showcase various organ systems and diseases.

Recent exhibits have displayed not only human corpses, but those of animals as well: The "Body Worlds & The Mirror of Time" exhibit features a giraffe that took three years to fully complete.

Now, with five plastination laboratories in three countries, von Hagens is looking to shock and impress in new ways.

In a recent interview with Reuters, von Hagens and his wife Angelina Whalley discussed the possibility of a new show dedicated to copulating corpses.

"It's not my intention to show certain sexual poses. My goal is really to show the anatomy and the function," Wheeler, the creative director of Body Worlds, said.

This show would raise a number of questions about the specifics of body donation, censorship and human sexuality. Should the exhibit, for example, show homosexuality? If yes, in what context?

Whalley says that she understands that this exhibit would present her team with a huge responsibility. Though they have already addressed some dissenters' concerns - in the "Cycle of Life" exhibit, the copulating couple is in a separate room, and photographers and children under 16 are not allowed to enter. It is unclear whether these restrictions would carry over to the proposed new exhibit.

One thing is for sure: Whatever von Hagens decides to display, there will be an audience for it.