Imagine a world where everyone has complete, perfect body parts. A world where someone whose leg has to be amputated doesn't have to worry about being stuck to a wheel chair because he'll definitely be getting a new leg. A world where someone who has a tooth can get a another real tooth.

A few day ago, I stumbled on a site that gave the price of different human body parts on he black market.. The liver is worth $157,000, the heart is worth $119,000, the kidney is worth a whooping $252,000, which is amazing considering the fact that the body naturally has two kidneys but one heart. There is a whole industry of organ traffickers based on these trade and they certainly make a huge amount of money.

However, I'm welcoming you to the future. 3D technology is now being employed in the printing of living cells. Yeah, you can get an entirely human leg if there is an issue with your current one. Or let's assume you don't like your face and you prefer mine, it can easily be arranged.

However, you shouldn't go and get your leg caught in a landmine just yet as the technology is still being tested. It has been tested with the implantation of 3D produced body parts in animals and it functions efficiently. What is yet to be seen is how long it can last.

Photo Credit

I know of some people who would go against this sort of technology and label it as a means by which humans are trying to play God but this is something with several advantages which I will list below.

Help for amputees: When a person loses a body part, all that is on their mind is how they won't be able to us that body part anyhow. As their friend, you might tell them that there is still so much they can do with their life but somewhere deep down, we all know that the person is not buying the whole story. With the 3D printing of new body parts, no one has to bother about the loss of their limbs anymore.

3D- Printed Jaw Bone and Ear Cartilage.
Photo Credit
One problem with organ transplants today is the potential for rejection. However, with a 3D printer that prints organs with your own cells, I think that the chance of rejection is greatly reduced.
There are complaints today about how animals are maltreated in the testing of drugs, cosmetics, etc. 3D printing could help in providing human skin cells which can be used for the tests, thereby stopping the need for test animals.
3D production could help in the production of food. We might not even have to plant again. Maybe we'll just be making the food like a replicator from Star Trek.
In the case of the need for an organ transplant, one does not have to wait, hoping a donor would be found. It can be readily produced in no time.

So, I think this could be the future of Medicine. A world where faulty body parts are simply removed and 3D printed ones are added. It could even be useful in the treatment of cancer if the cancer cells haven't metastasized.

I think the future would be a very happy place, let's all sit back and watch as it unfolds.

Thank you for sparing your time to go through this. I remain your humble little boy.

I am @Illuminatus, I am a Nigerian and I am neither a terrorist, a scammer nor a spammer.

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bestgift (67) 7 years ago

beautiful

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2 votes

berksaustins (48) 7 years ago

Hearts are less expensive because they're easier to damage. I tried to find you more articles about this topic, but many of them have been 404ed. Here's the rest:

https://psmag.com/economics/nancy-scheper-hughes-black-market-trade-organ-detective-84351
http://www.weeklystandard.com/xinjiang-procedure/article/610145?

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1 vote

illuminatus (65) 7 years ago

I just read that. I don't think they are that easy to damage. The reason why they are easily damaged in that situation is because the bodies were shot.

I think you're right. It's a fascinating topic no matter how you look at it.

wbhall (38) 7 years ago

Interesting! I would rather see this technology help those in need versus a black market for organ harvesting.

3D- Printing Of Human Body Parts? I think we are in the future.

Further Reading Sources

Thank you for sparing your time to go through this. I remain your humble little boy.

I am @Illuminatus, I am a Nigerian and I am neither a terrorist, a scammer nor a spammer.