Hypothetical Ethics

[forsyth]

Okay. Let's posit it's The Future. It's now possible to take any of your cells and make it think it's a stem cell, stick it in an egg shell, and get it to quick-grow into an organ of your own for transplants. But the best way to get it to grow and support it is to get it to grow a body, without a brain.

Creepy, immoral, or cool?

What if it was only part of a body, just the essential bits, no limbs or anything?

What if the rest of the body could be set up to grow parts based on other people's genes, so most everything was used?

Comments

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Cool. Although growing just the needed bit would be more efficient, I can see rich people's insurance companies having two or three no-brain clones of them on hand at any given time. Hopefully more on ice or in tanks, and less in a _The Island_ kind of way.

If we do perfect nanodelivery systems, I can imagine old people popping pills filled with a combination of nanodocs and cloned 16-year-old versions of their personal cells. Slowly replace marrow, organs etc with younger cells, a thousand milligrams at a time. Replenish subcutaneous fats, follicles, melanin-producing cells, all kinds.

[forsythferret.livejournal.com]

It'd be really hard to grow just the organ. It needs nutrients and waste taken away and basically something to do all the stuff the rest of the body does, so the organ grows the right way.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

That's what polymer scaffolding is for.