16K, many from Los Angeles, on waiting list to donate bodies to BodyWorlds exhibit

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Bodyworlds Pulse exhibit shows real human bodies preserved in a compelling, up-close look at anatomy.

Now, people are signing up to donate their bodies to be part of the exhibit.

When California Science Center CEO Jeffrey Rudolph walks passes this human masterpiece, he's in awe. "Our lungs our heart, our stomach, kidneys all fit in this little cavity, " he said.

BodyWorlds Pulse covers every aspect of the human condition.

Bodies are preserved in a process called plastination, but Rudolph says its not a display about the dead. "The exhibit is really about us and about life and living people," he said.

Visitors can see the human form frozen in action. Throwing a football. Playing hockey. One humorous exhibit also showcases skeletal poker players passing cards under a table.

Rudolph said, "If you can add a little bit of humor to something that is difficult to talk about it just makes it more accessible to people."

When Rudolph encounters visitors he does much of the talking, but someday someone else will be talking about him.

"I actually was so impacted by this that I made my own decision to donate my own body," he said, "It just seemed to me a natural extension of what I spent my life doing here at the California Science Center."

In this exhibit there are about 200 specimens including 20 whole body plastinates.

Presently, four different exhibits are on tour and they have inspired many people to become donors, but BodyWorlds isn't taking any more applications.

Right now there are about 16,000 people on the waiting list hoping to become a permanent part of this exhibit.

Rudoph said, "Most of the body donors from the U.S. are from the Los Angeles area."

You can catch the exhibit in Los Angeles until Feb. 4.

A survey found BodyWorlds inspired people to quit smoking, eat better and exercise more.

That kind of positive change is why Rudolph is donating his body to be used in this very educational way.

"It depends on what I die from and if it's something interesting and if it'll help others learn. Then, that's what they will highlight," Rudolph said, "If not then maybe I'll be in an athletic position who knows what I'll be.