Historic Evolution

• Medical schools have long demanded human specimens, and for more than a century, India was the world’s primary supplier.

• After India banned human remains exports in 1985, the supply chain shifted to China, which in turn banned exports in 2006.

• Despite these bans, human remains sourced from China and India make up

  the bulk of medical specimens offered for sale online, and both countries contend with a growing number of grave robbers.

• The trade in human remains echoes dark Colonial-era practices that dehumanize the dead and creates incentives for unscrupulous actors to desecrate graves or for buyers to ignore suspicious origins.

• Though ethically and morally distasteful, the trade in human remains is poorly regulated, and some aspects of relevant laws are hard to enforce.