Gunther Von Hagens: You ask the questions

(Such as: would you be happy to plastinate the body of a family member or loved one? And are you a fan of horror movies?)

Professor Gunther von Hagens was born in Alt-Skalden in the former East Germany in 1945. He studied medicine at the University of Jena until 1968, when he was imprisoned for two years after trying to escape to West Germany. He finished his medical studies at the University of Lübeck in 1973. In 1977, he invented plastination, a technique that permanently preserves the body. He is a visiting professor at the School of Medicine in Dalian in China. Since 1996, his exhibition of plastinated human bodies, Body Worlds, has toured Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria, attracting nine million visitors. The British show ends next month. He is married with three children.

How would you feel about the plastination of a close family member or loved one? Is this something that you've already done? If not, why not?
Helen Creanor, by e-mail

I plastinated a very close friend who died five years ago. He donated his body after finding out that he had a malignant kidney tumour and had only a year to live. It helped me mourn, but it was not very good during the dissection and plastination process. It was as if he stretched his hand across the barrier of death. I understood more clearly why surgeons are advised not to operate on loved ones: you need clinical detachment. I learnt from this that the work of plastinating my family members will be left to my employees. My wife, father, four siblings and three children have all said they want to be plastinated.

Have you ever had a brush with death? Do you fear it?
Toby Kane, Holyhead

I have slight haemophilia and when I was six years old, a door slammed on to my head and I spent half a year in hospital. One morning, after repeated bleeding, I was so weak I couldn't even raise my head. They rushed me to the operating theatre and after they gave me the anaesthetic, I heard the surgeons saying that I would probably die. As a result I thought deeply about death. So no, I don't fear it. It is very well known to me. I've realised that death is absolutely normal and life is the exception. So anatomy has given me to the chance to make more of my life.

How do you relax after a hard day's plastinating?
Naomi Saul, by e-mail

I don't really relax. I learn Chinese or answer e-mails or try to continue my polymer research. Hobbies and working are the same thing for me. Fifteen years ago, I promised my wife I would have one week's holiday. I travelled from Sudan to Egypt and visited the Valley of the Kings. Then I went to Alexandria to be on the beach for one week. After one afternoon, I had to go back to work. That was my last attempt.

How many people have now pledged their bodies for plastination? Where are you going to put them all?
Tim Pierce, by e-mail

About 5,200 people – and because 1.2 per cent die every year, we get a body every two weeks now. Ninety per cent are Germans who saw my early exhibitions, and about 50 British people have now pledged their bodies. The need for educational specimens – for universities, medical schools and museums – is still growing, so I will accept up to 10,000 bodies.

Are you a fan of horror movies?
Bob Richardson, Birmingham

No. I've never even seen one. Why should I burden my soul with something ugly and frightening? I'm a harmonious character.

Do you believe in life after death?
Jade Thurman, by e-mail

I'm agnostic, so I believe that my mind is not constructed to answer this question. I'm a modest person so I find it unlikely, but it would be wonderful to have a life after death.

Is it true that you were illegally supplied with bodies from Novosibirsk, Siberia? If so, are any of them on show in London?
Pam Edwards, London

No. All these allegations are just satisfying the old tradition of mixing body-snatching with anatomy. I agreed that preserved specimens would be sent from Novosibirsk to Heidelberg for plastination and then they would be sent back to Novosibirsk University. They were exported legally – I got the signature of the local customs official and the director of the university. I did not need the consent of the body donors because in Russia, bodies that are not claimed within a certain period of time are transferred by law to anatomy departments. The same law exists in the United States, for example in Maryland. Since the bad publicity, I have cancelled the whole agreement. All the body donors in the exhibition have given their consent.

How many fedora hats do you have? When did you start wearing them? And why, when asked to remove one during your live autopsy as a matter of respect, did you refuse?
Wayne Molony, Aberdeen

I have several hats because every hat only lasts three to four months. I started wearing them about 20 years ago. All the anatomists during the Renaissance wore this kind of hat and I read so much about them that I sometimes thought I was living with them. I never take it off now. It stands for my individuality. The person who asked me to remove my hat during the autopsy was a journalist from the Daily Mail. I gave him my reasons for wearing it and the audience gave a round of applause. The question was the quote of the week in the Daily Mail, but my answer was not given.

Do you intend to become a plastinate? If so, do you have elaborate plans for yourself?
Michelle Whitton, Halton

It's logical, but what they do with me I'll leave up to my wife and loved ones. I'm not vain. I'm not concerned about what happens to me after death.

Two people have attacked the exhibits in Britain. Are we more squeamish about death than other nationalities?
Ian Desilva, Luton

Certainly. In no other country has there been such fierce opposition from the government. In no other country were the exhibits attacked. I think it's because in Britain, more than any other country, dissection was used as an additional penalty after the death penalty.

Have your children shown an interest in following in their father's footsteps?
Gary Quinn, East Grinstead

All three. My son, who's 22, studied economics in Birmingham and comes over to China every year to look at my work. My daughter is 19 and wants to do event organisation. They want to continue my work – my son on the economic side, my daughter with the exhibitions. The youngest is 17 and is also very interested.

I was revolted by your plastinate of a pregnant mother with her stomach cut open to reveal the foetus. Have you no respect for the unborn child?
Jon Goring, Manchester

I think it's very respectful, especially the mother's pose. She closes her eyes and turns her head away from the visitors. I think it shows how much the body changes in pregnancy. In Switzerland, Austria and Japan, nobody said: "You should not have used these foetuses, because they couldn't give their permission." In Kyrgyzstan, they thought it was especially honourable for them not to rot or be burned but exhibited.

Body Worlds is at the Atlantis Gallery, 146 Brick Lane, London E1, to 9 Feb (020-7053 0000; www.bodyworlds.com)