Rapper-cum-entrepreneur Will.i.am says we’re going to need an overhaul of our moral code to deal with 3D-printed humans.
The hip-hop star is referring to a possible future where we’ll one day be able to print out actual people.
“If you can print a liver or a kidney, god dang it, you’re going to be able to print a whole freaking person,” he explained, speaking in an interview with Dezeen.
“Now we’re getting into a whole new territory,” the Black Eyed Peas founder continued.
“Moses comes down with the 10 commandments and says ‘Thou shalt not’. He didn’t say shit about 3D printing. So new morals, new laws, and new codes are going to have to be implemented.”
While we’re not actually at the stage where we can print out people just yet, Will.i.am seems pretty sure the technology is possible, at least in ‘our lifetime’.
“I’m not saying I agree with it,” he continued, adding: “I’m just saying what’s fact based on plausible growth in technology and Moore’s law.”
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It’s worth mentioning that the star might not be spinning possible futures completely out of thin air.
Professor Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina, has been working with his team on printing human organs for some time now.
His team has already managed to print out a human kidney using a 3D printer, loading it with living cells instead of the usual plastic inserts.
This means one day organ donors might be completely obsolete, with 3D printers instead providing the brunt of organs for medical transplantation.
Unfortunately, we’re a long way off from being able to print a whole human, so Will.i.am’s concerns are best left to the realms of sci-fi for now.
