The stealthy startup that pitched brainless human clones
14 hours ago
- #biotechnology
- #ethics
- #longevity
- R3 Bio, a stealth startup, emerged from secrecy to reveal work on creating nonsentient monkey 'organ sacks' as an alternative to animal testing, backed by investors including Tim Draper.
- Founder John Schloendorn has pitched the concept of 'brainless clones'—human clones with minimal brain function to serve as sources for organ transplants or potentially for brain transplants to extend lifespan.
- The startup operates within a circle of extreme life-extension proponents who fear public backlash, with ideas discussed at high-profile, confidential events like the Abundance Longevity conference.
- R3 has outlined a technical roadmap for 'body replacement cloning,' aiming to improve cloning efficiency and create animals without complete brains, though it denies current efforts to alter brains in any species.
- Ethical concerns are significant, with experts questioning the feasibility, safety, and morality of creating abnormal humans for organ harvesting, while some argue nonsentient bodies could be ethically acceptable.
- Related efforts include Kind Biotechnology, another stealth startup working on creating animals lacking sentience for organ production, using CRISPR to edit genes and produce 'organ sacks.'
- The concept draws inspiration from birth defects like hydranencephaly, where individuals lack cerebral hemispheres but can survive, though challenges in defining consciousness and ethical boundaries persist.
- Investors acknowledge the high-risk, low-odds nature of the project, comparing it to colonizing Mars, with some becoming less optimistic about the feasibility of whole-body transplants.
- Public disclosure strategies involve starting with palatable goals like solving organ shortages before introducing more radical ideas, to avoid dystopian perceptions and backlash.
- Key figures in longevity science, such as Aubrey de Grey and Jean Hébert, have connections to R3, lending credibility to the concept despite its controversial and repulsive nature to many.