30 Unbelievable Products Derived from the Human Body

Marvel Comics writer Mark Gruenwald, upon his death in 1996, had his ashes mixed with the printing ink for the collected edition of his series Squadron Supreme by request. Many first printings of the book likely contain traces of his remains.

Sunglasses made from human hair represent an innovative and sustainable product that uses processed human hair as the primary material for the frames.

The drug urokinase, used to break up blood clots and treat certain forms of cancer, derives its main active enzyme from human urine.

Jewelry made from human teeth is a niche and unconventional art form that utilizes human teeth as the primary material for crafting unique pieces.

After childbirth, some mothers choose to consume the placenta, using methods like consuming it raw in a smoothie, incorporating it into dishes like lasagna, stew, spaghetti, or pizza, or dehydrating it and making it into a pill.

The Jiahu neolithic site in China has yielded flutes dating back to 7,000 BC-5,000 BC that could be the earliest playable instruments ever found. Fragments of bone flutes from this period are still playable today and are remarkably similar to modern versions in terms of hole placement.

British artist Marc Quinn, inspired by Rembrandt, creates macabre self-portraits using his own blood. He crafts eerie sculptures of his head from his frozen blood, requiring nine pints, roughly the amount in a human body. Since 1991, he has created five such blood heads, documenting his aging process. One even sold for $465,000. Storing them in freezers presents a unique challenge. Quinn plans to create the last one after his death, using all the blood drained from his body-enough to rival a scene from "The Shining."

Before dying from tuberculosis in 1885, Japanese artist Hananuma Masakichi created an eerily lifelike wooden replica of his body. He meticulously sculpted every detail, using thousands of wood strips, his own hair, nails, and even teeth to ensure an exact likeness. Masakichi exhibited the sculpture alongside himself and challenged viewers to identify the real artist. However, his girlfriend left him, and he eventually passed away a decade later, broken and destitute. The sculpture later found a home in Robert Ripley's collection for a mere $10.

In the 18th century, French anatomist Honore Fragonard took an unusual path into the art world by turning corpses into grotesque sculptures. He obtained bodies from various sources, embalming them using a mysterious method. Fragonard dissected and reassembled these bodies in eerie poses, sometimes combining human and animal parts, before meticulously painting blood vessels and varnishing them. He prepared around 700 such sculptures, with only 21 surviving, including a skeletal man riding a terrifying horse. Although rumors suggest the rider was his fiancée, they have been disproved, leaving the true motivation behind these nightmarish creations a mystery.

Before the introduction of the catacombs, there was once a cemetery in central Paris so overflowing with bodies that they made soap with the fat of the corpses and had houses with bones protruding from the rooftops of adjacent houses.