No.12865633 ViewReplyOriginalReport
Why aren't scientists pursuing harvesting organs from headless fetuses in the lab?

We know that there are genes that can cause a fetus to develop without a head (e.g, the lim1 single gene mutation in pic related causes mice to not develop a head). In humans, there are similar equivalents, like anencephaly, atencephaly, and a lot others that control different sections of the brain. There have already been headless fetuses carried to term by the mother that were later used for organ transplantation into other children who needed organs.

If we pursued this route of research we could probably solve organ donation shortages in a decade, and then we would have such an abundance of organs that we could not only reserve them for people with specific diseases, but also as procedure for getting new young organs for the entire general public.

There is no moral objection to be made here, these fetuses would not have a brain, and therefore would not be conscious. Yet, scientists and bioethicists will probably forego this promising route of research because it's 'immoral'. You can not on the one hand say it's morally unethical to use headless fetuses as organ generators while on the other hand eating your cheeseburger from burgerking. If we actually had a rational society not functioning off of emotion this would work, but since that's not the case I suppose this entire post is just a pipedream.