Cloning, the choices it could offer

[RedJack]

Hello, this was a thought that popped into my head for some reason during the last thread I started. Like the last one, this might need moving, so I'll leave that up to the moderators.

Back when Dolly the cloned sheep was publicly revealed, I remember the subject of harvesting organs from brain dead clones was brought up. The obvious advantage assuming we work out the problems with it, is that you'd be guaranteed or nearly guaranteed rejection free organs. The obvious problem is one of morality, since you're creating a person simply to use them for parts.

Assuming that we reached the ability to create clones and age them to adult within a reasonable time frame (5 years or less?), should we do this? With that level of technology there are obviously two choices to correct someone's gender, brain transfer or organ harvesting, but would either be right?

[Alison]

hmm..

I don't know how I feel about growing a sentient human being to harvest for organs.. but what if you could just... grow the organs?  ...  You need a heart transplant?  Then you can just get a specimen from the local organ bank in your blood type..  eyesight not what it used to be? get some new eyes.  I think it could be a  good idea, but it does sorta put a nice kink in Darwin's theory.. 

Would human beings cease to evolve if our flaws weren't bred out? Or would we be in essence evolving anyway since we have mastered the technology to accomplish such a feat?

interesting brain fodder.

[Jeannette]

Making a human being to harvest organs is morbid in my opinion.  Nothing wrong with stem cell research and the like.  As Alison pointed out, if science could produce a human being, I'd presume they could create single organs to transplant them, couldn't they?  Why then go the longer, morbid way?

[RedJack]

Making a human being to harvest organs is morbid in my opinion.  Nothing wrong with stem cell research and the like.  As Alison pointed out, if science could produce a human being, I'd presume they could create single organs to transplant them, couldn't they?  Why then go the longer, morbid way?

Well, one reason was brought up in my original post, with that level of technology, gender reassignment could be as simple as transplanting your brain into a clone of you in the correct gender. Of course, is it really you? Also, growing individual organs might be problematic, all systems in the body are inter related, so it might be easier to grow a whole unit rather than parts. Also for complicated surgeries (again GRS since its appropriate to the forum), the number of parts necessary might make it easier to have a whole donor body on hand.

[Jessica]

be as simple as transplanting your brain into a clone of you in the correct gender.

Reconnecting the millions of nerves correctly so your brain can then use that body.
Rehibilitation of all the muscles in that new body that have never worked so that you can walk.
Restablishing the Blood Brain Barrier that would have to be penetrated in the process of reconnecting all of those nerves, veins and arteries.

Currently, using stem cell injections, they are able to get about 60% transmission from a completely severed spinal nerve cord... in rats.  Nothing has been done regarding humans yet.

I am sure there are other difficulties that don't come to mind immediately.

http://h20.media.mit.edu/

Forget cool new gadgets or killer-ap software. "We're hacking the human," said Frank Moss, director of MIT's Media Lab, in introducing "H2.0: New Minds, New Bodies, New Identities," the lab's May 9 symposium that showed -- often in mind-blowing detail -- how addressing the challenges posed by disabilities can broaden the scope of human ability.

This is more likely, but I personally have doubts that it will come about within 60 years.

[RedJack]

be as simple as transplanting your brain into a clone of you in the correct gender.

Reconnecting the millions of nerves correctly so your brain can then use that body.
Rehibilitation of all the muscles in that new body that have never worked so that you can walk.
Restablishing the Blood Brain Barrier that would have to be penetrated in the process of reconnecting all of those nerves, veins and arteries.

That might not be as hard as you think, remember, we're positing a future where a human being can be grown from a few cells in a span of roughly five years, with corrections made such as gender or genetic diseases being fixed. Assuming that all medical technology moves forward roughly at the same pace, while a brain transplant would still be very complicated, its far more likely than it is now or even the foreseeable future. Admittedly though, this is a long, long way off, unless we have another sudden breakthrough, right now clones still have to grow at the same pace as anyone else, making them rather useless for organ harvesting, unless we start growing and storing spare bodies for every child.

[Lori]

Have you seen the movie "The Island"?

http://www.theisland-themovie.com/

[lisagurl]

There is a machine that works somewhat like a 3D ink jet printer but uses stem cells to assemble an organ.

[Kaeren]

We should try to make something new instead of making the same once again.

[RebeccaFog]

    It is possible to clone organs separate from an entire body.  This is where gene manipulation or some such thing comes in.

    If you needed a whole bunch of organs then why not clone a complete person minus the brain.  Our species has already perfected giving birth to such creatures.

   I have no issue with harvesting people.  I've been doing it for years in order to cut down on my grocery bill.  I hadn't thought of it for organs, but I see now where I might make a profit from it.

Have you seen the movie "The Island"?

http://www.theisland-themovie.com/

This movie is a rip off of a movie named The Clonus Horror (1979)   If you get caught watching it; you may be jailed.

[Kaeren]

We could also become cyborgs.

Why not transplanting our brains ? On monday we are males, for the week-end we take the female body out of the closet. On thursday we become tigers and lions.  Fridays we go fly always.

And every other week also another face.

I need a transformer.

[King Malachite]

If that could be a possible option then I say go for it.