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Scientists say they want to starting growing human bodies, or “bodyoids,” to “reduce animal testing, improve drug development, and alleviate organ shortages.” Ethically-sourced human bodies, of course.
“Why do we hear about medical breakthroughs in mice, but rarely see them translate into cures for human disease?” scientists from Stanford University asked in a recent article published in MIT Technology Review. “Why do so few drugs that enter clinical trials receive regulatory approval? And why is the waiting list for organ transplantation so long? These challenges stem in large part from a common root cause: a severe shortage of ethically sourced human bodies.”
Some may find that sort of thinking, or as the scientists write, “disturbing,” “grotesque or appalling.” They understand this reaction. However, they claim that the fact that “with more than 100,000 patients currently waiting for a solid organ transplant in the U.S. alone,” it is this kind of outside-the-box thinking that could solve this organ shortage crisis.
“There are still many technical roadblocks to achieving this vision, but we have reason to expect that bodyoids could radically transform biomedical research by addressing critical limitations in the current models of research, drug development, and medicine,” they explain. “Among many other benefits, they would offer an almost unlimited source of organs, tissues, and cells for use in transplantation.
“It could even be possible to generate organs directly from a patient’s own cells, essentially cloning someone’s biological material to ensure that transplanted tissues are a perfect immunological match and thus eliminating the need for lifelong immunosuppression.”
Naturally, there are more than a few ethical concerns that growing spare human bodies would create.
“The cells used to make bodyoids would have to come from someone, and we’d have to make sure that this someone consented to this particular, likely controversial, use,” the scientists wrote. “But perhaps the deepest issue is that bodyoids might diminish the human status of real people who lack consciousness or sentience.
“Thus far, we have held to a standard that requires us to treat all humans born alive as people, entitled to life and respect. Would bodyoids— created without pregnancy, parental hopes, or indeed parents — blur that line?”
They claim “the ethical and social issues are at least as important as the scientific ones.” They add that “determining whether we should make bodyoids, nonhuman or human, will require considerable thought, discussion, and debate.” Those decisions will, according to the scientists, will”ultimately, “be made by societies and governments.” Scary thought, considering how relying on societies and governments to reign in advancements in artificial intelligence has been working out so far.
Content shared from brobible.com.