(CNN) — Toney Dixon’s fascination with dead bodies goes back to her childhood, when she would sneak around her uncle’s funeral home and watch him prepare bodies.

“I found my heart racing,” said Dixon, 67. “But instead of being taken aback and terrified, I wanted to know more.”

Years later, Dixon’s curiosity drew her and her twin sister, Erlyene Toney-Alvarez, to Body Worlds, an exhibit that shows preserved human specimens bisected and stripped of skin.

“It’s like standing in the mirror and seeing yourself in a totally new way,” said Dixon, the younger twin.

The twins were so impressed that they signed up on the spot to donate their earthly remains to the exhibit, which is currently showing in the United States, Canada, England and Germany.

With their signatures, the women joined a group of people who believe that having their bodies dissected, preserved and displayed will serve a greater purpose than burial or cremation. Body Worlds’ donor program boasts about 800 people in North America and 8,600 worldwide.

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written by Andrew