‘Spare’ human bodies grown in artificial wombs in lab as scientists insist ‘bodyoids’ feel no pain & can serve as ‘MEAT’
CUTTING-EDGE scientists have unveiled a disturbing plan to grow soulless "spare" human bodies that can be used for medical experiments and even meat.
The so-called bodyoids would be grown in artificial wombs and have the eerie ability to withstand endless pain.
The scientists, Carsten T Charlesworth, Henry T Greely, and Hiromitsu Nakauchi, made their bizarre pitch in MIT Technology Review and explained why the Frankenstein-esque plan would revolutionize medicine.
They said the zombie-ish bodies would be key to testing out new medicines and growing human organs for transplants.
The plan would become a reality by using pluripotent stem cells, one of the earliest cell types to form during human development.
The stem cells have already been used to grow organic matter and, most recently, helped to successfully create a structure that resembles a human embryo.
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Researchers hope to grow the fetuses entirely outside a body in artificial uteruses, which are already being tested in labs.
They plan on using "genetic techniques" to stunt brain production and ensure the body lacks sentience.
Once they're grown, the bodies "could address many ethical problems in modern medicine, offering ways to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering," wrote the scientists.
One of those issues, according to the brazen scientists, is sourcing "ethical meat."
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They wrote, "For example, they could offer an ethical alternative to the way we currently use nonhuman animals for research and food, providing meat or other products with no animal suffering or awareness."
The researchers admitted their plan poses endless ethical questions, but stressed the world of possibilities that could open up if the spare bodies are developed.
They pointed out how medical researchers have been primarily relying on animals for testing, which isn't always directly transferable to human treatments.
Plus, the testing potentially tortures the creatures as they're sentient and feel pain.
According to the researchers, endless drugs are constantly being tested, but very few of them get cleared for safe use on people.
Scientists make bizarre pitch to grow 'spare' bodies
Here is everything we know about their proposal.
- Scientists have proposed growing human bodies without consciousness for medical use
- These bodies could serve as a source for organ transplants and solve shortages
- The pitch poses serious moral dilemmas about the misuse of technology
- The concept, once fiction, is edging closer to actual science
That's because the meds have to be performed on live humans in clinical trials that "risk harm to patients" and "can take a decade or longer to complete."
Only about 15% of those trials are actually successfully completed, the researchers said.
MEDICAL MYSTERY
The scientists pointed to over 100,000 Americans who are currently waiting for a solid organ transplant and stressed that the crisis isn't stopping any time soon.
They also noted that medical students rely on people who opt to donate their bodies to science for necessary training in school.
At the end of the bizarre essay, the scientists made a desperate plea to start testing on rodents as soon as possible.
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They said, "Until recently, the idea of making something like a bodyoid would have been relegated to the realms of science fiction and philosophical speculation.
"But now it is at least plausible - and possibly revolutionary. It is time for it to be explored."