THE HUMAN' BODY AS A NEW COMMODITY
Tsuyoshi Awaya

1． THE

HUMAN REVOLUTION

In the past， technologies have transformed and thoroughly utilized
the natural enVirorimentl animals and plants． They were the directtarget of technologies． But now human beings ourselves are becoming
the direct target of these technologies． That is to say， technologies，

especially medical technologies， are beginning to transform and utilize

the human being itself． Here， the．know‑how cultivated in thetransformation and utilization of animals and plants are fully madeuse of． 1 call this phenomenon thetechnologies．

Human Revolution due to medical'This RevolUtion is not only changing our bodies， it will eventuallyentail a revision in the conventional notiOn of how we regard ourpersons and humankind itself． One direction this revolution is taking

is the creation of human chimera and cyborgs． Moreover， it seems
that brain transplants （i．e． body transplants）， cryonics， human cloning，

artificial intelligence， brain technology， etc． will also contribute tothis revolution． To this can be added personhood theory， evolution
into more advanced species， etc．， although these do not result fromtechnology．
Though it has been said that the lnformation Revolution follows

the Agricultural Revolution and the lndustrial Revolution，2 1 would
like to suggest theHuman Revolution

instead of， or parallel to， theInformation Revolution． As long as civilization is a system by whichhuman desires are fulfilled， it is considered that this Human Revolutionis almost inevitable．

So far， a kernel concept of this Human Revolution is the thoroughtransformation and utilization of the human body．

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2． UTILIZATION OF・ THE HUMAN BODY

（1） TRADITIONAL UTILIZATION OF THE HUMAN BODY
In the past， Human body parts were utilized for various purposes．
First is the utilization of the human body as food ： i．e． cannibalism．

It is said that people ate human flesh， whether as an exception or asa norm， from the time of Cro‑Magnon man and Neanderthal man．
There is an enormous amount of evidence about cannibalism．
SeCond is the utilization of the human body for． medical treatment

and as medicine． The use as false teeth of teeth extracted from deadbodies in ancient Etruria is an example of the utilization of the humanbody for medical treatment． The dead bodies of condemned prisoners
have been utilized for dissection in the West and the East， an instanceof the human body being used for more general medical purposes． The'old Chinese pharmaceutical work

Bencaogangmu（1596） describes

how most Parts of the human body， including'bones， nail， hair，
dandruff， earwax， impurities on the teeth， feces， urine， sweat， organs etc．

can be used as・medications against various 4ilments． The utilization ofmummies as medicine was in fashion in Europe from the 15th to the17th century where， it is said， human fat taken from the dead body was
also utilized as medicine． There are examples Qf the brain， liver， lungs，heart， bone， flesh， and fetus being utilized as medicine in Japan in pasttimes．

Third is the utilization of parts of the human body as tools．

Whistles and pipes made from bone， or bowls made from skulls areexamples of this utilization．
Fourth is the use of the human body in art． For example， a famouschurch in Rome has ornaments made of many skulls and other bones．
And a famous Buddhist temple in Japan has statues of Buddha made oflarge amQunts of human ashes after cremation． These are examples ofthe utilization of the human body in art．

（2） CONTEMPORARY UTILIZATION OF THE HUMAN BODY
Human organs， tissues， and‑cells are widely utilized for transplants，

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medical research， biotechnology， drug tests， etc． By the way， thepossibilities for various

special utilization of brain‑dead bodies， suchas for the testing of drugs and conducting of medical experiments
were pointed out about 25 years ago 3 and have now， in part， becomea reality．4（3） FUTURE UTILIZATION OF THE HUMAN BODY
Incidentally， these forms of utilization of the human body may
possibly be followed byneo‑cannibalism： utilization of human flesh

as processed food in the form of tablets in the future．5 This would bethe ultimate recycling of the human body．

（4） THE RELATIONSHIP ， BETWEEN UTILIZATION AND

COMMODIFICATION OF THE HUMAN BODY
One phenomenon deriving frorn the quest for the．thoroughutilization of the human body is its qommodification．

3． REALITY OF COMMODIFICATION OF THE HUMANBODY（1） COMMODIFICATION OF TISSUES， CELLS， GENES， ETC．
While the sale of human organs is becoming prohibited around theworld， at the same time， the whole human body is becoming acommodity．
Most kinds of human tissues for transplant have already become
a commodity in substance． There are many tissue banks in the US．
These tissue banks extract bones， cartilage， skin， fasciae， durae，pericardia， ・cardiac valves， tendons， ligaments， blood vessels etc． fromdead bodies． After inspection， sterilization and processing， these tissues

are kept in storage． After that， the tissue banks deliver the tissues

according to the requirements of hdspitals． These tissues have pricetags in the name ofprocessing fees

． These tissues are， in substance，commodities． （However， they are described as
not described ascommodities．

products；they are） For example， one heart valve andconduit from a certain company in the U．S． is 6，950 U．S． dollars． One

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tendon is 2，500 U．S． dollars．

Another example is durae， which are imported from Germany andsold in Japan by the name offreeze‑dried dura．

（At present their salehas been stopped due to Creutzfeldt‑Jakob disease．） Naturally they
have a price tag ； they are simply a commodity． For example， one fullcalot dura from a certain company in Germany is 480，000 Japanese Yen（about 3，700 U．S． dollars）． Tissue services have aiready become bigbusiness． This is not a judgment of the situation ； merely a descriptionof how it is．

Human cells and genes for research and educational purposes havealready become commodities． They are openly sold by catalog orthrough the lnternet， listed in the same way as a rat or a guinea pig．

For example， 250ptg of RNA of human adrenal gland frQm one
company in the U．S． is 255 U．S． dollars．

Blood， though not organs， of course， is already traded as a regularcommodity． Blood， whether donated free or for money becomes acommodity which is called

hematic medicine．

Hair and spermatozoa

may be added to the list of such commodities． By the way， tonics madefrom human placenta may also be added to the list of such commoditiesin Japan．

（2） COMMODIFICATION OF ORGANSGenerally speaking， organs are halfway to becoming commodities．
Organs' potential as a commodity has not yet becpme clear with theexception of the cornea． The cornea， which is usually categQrized as anorgan， has become one in substance．
For example， in Japan， the cornea is put into the category of anorgan by the Japanese Organ Transplant Law， and a transplant patient
pays for'@the cornea as

material feesto the hospital． This means that

aprice is attached to the freely donated cornea． At present the price isjust 90，000 Japanese Yen （about 690 U．S． dollars）． lt is a fixed price．

Here， we can clearly see the cornea's potential as a commodity．

Incidentally， While 1 have seen a kidney in a bowl of icy water
immediately after its removal and j ust before the transplant， 1 have yet

to see a kidney which has been freeze‑dried or frozen and packed．

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Tsuyoshi Awaya ： THE HUMAN BODY AS A NEW COMMODITY
Why have not the kidney and other organs been treated ascommodities in the same way as the cornea．and tissues ？ ls the obstacle

the influence of ethical considerations？ ls the obstacle the influenceof ethical considerations？ lt seems not；rather it seems that thetechnology for the long‑term preservation of these organs has yet tobe developed．
By the way， if the technology for ．long‑term preservation of theseorgans is developed， we could， at least theoretically， obtain suitableorgans from anywhere in the world which have little or no likelihood ofrejection． lf this does become a reality， it will be very good news forpatients who need a transplant． For example， we can imagine thefollowing： By the computer of the World Transplant Network， akidney petfectly matching your requirements has been located inCapetown， South Africa． Do you wish to import it ？
from the age offlying organs．

This is a scene

When this can happen， won't organs

have a price tag ？

4． THE CAUSE OF COMMODIFICATION OF THE HUMAN
BODY

Why have the human body parts become commodities？ As
medical technology has developed and the social， economic and legal
structure has been established， transplants have become routine． As
a result， organs， tissues and other body parts have becomematerials

for these procedures and have begun to be regarded as property． Astransplant medicine continues to advance， more organs， tissues， etc．・

are becoming

medical resources， and their commerqial value ascommodities is increasing． Biotechnology which utilizes humantissues， cells， etc． as materials contributes to the commodification of thehuman body also．
Fundamentally， in a market economy， everything on earth has thepotential to become a salable commodity ； human organs， tissues， cells

and genes are no exception． Both the development of technology，
especially medical technology， and the progress of the market economy

cause the commodification of the human body．
In fact， the commodification of the human body is an extension of

the commodification of the natural environment such as land and一145一No． 51， 1999

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natural resources， of animals and plants， and of human labor （a part ofthefunctionsof the human body）．6

5． THE TREND TOWARD COMMODIFICATION OF THE
HUMAN BODY
Now， should humankind stop this trend toward thecommodification not just of organs but of the whole human bodyon the grounds of current societal values and ethics？ Here， 1 would
conclude， hypothetically， that we should stop it． Could this be done？
Even if we had the will to do sO， it is hard to imagine how this could

be done． The reason for this is that commodification of the humanbody is just one of the strong currents of the

Human Revolution

asmentioned above， and since each current is connected with the others，
it is difficult to stop only one current． For example， unless we put astop to the total utilization of the human body， it is hard to stop its

commodification．

6． CONCLUSION
We are entering a new era in which human body parts are becomingcommodities available for distribution． How should we respond tothis？ lt seems that almost the only response available is to calmly
recognize this new reality． This means that we need new societal values
and morals． From a legal aspect， it is inevitable that current legislationprohibiting organ sales in the world will be reconsidered in the future．

It seems that it is necessary to 'make worldwide uniform regulations

to encompass the commodification of the human body and the sale oforgans．

REFERENCES
1． See， Awaya， T．，

Organ Transplantation and the Human Revolution，Transplantation IF70ceedings， Vol． 31， 1999； Awaya， T．，
Associated with Organ Sales

Some Problems（Japanese）， in Tashiro S．， ed．， Future of Life ：Bioethics， Hozokan．Publisher， 1996， p． 145．
2． See， Toffler， A．， The Third JVave， W． Morrow ＆ Co．， 1980．

3．Jonas， H．，

Against the Stream： Comments on the Definition and一146一Tsuyoshi Awaya ： THE HUMAN BODY AS A NEW COMMODITY
Redefinition of Death，，， in his Philosophical Essの7s， University of Chicago
Press， 1974， pp． 132‑140 ； Gaylin， W．，

Harvesting the Dead，in Shannon， T．，ed．， Bioethics， Paulist Press， 1976， pp． 517‑527．

4． See， Morioka， M． and Akabayashi， A．，

To what extent are various special

utilization of brain‑dead bodies permissible？

（Japanese）， Chuokoron（Japanese journal）， May， 1988， pp． 256‑268 ； Kolff， J． et al．，

Heart in Human Subjects，

The Artificial

Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgei y，

No． 87， 1984， pp． 825‑831 ； Collar， B． et al．，

lnhibition of Human Platelet

Function in Vivo with a Monoclonal Antibody，Annals of lntemal MedicinesVol． 109， 1988， pp． 635‑638．

5． See， Awaya， T．，

The Theory of Neo‑Cannibalism（Japanese）， Shiso noHiroba （Japanese journal of philosophy）， Vol． 3， 1994， pp． 29‑47．

6． See， Kimbrell， A．， the Human Body Shop， HarperCollins Publishers， 1993， pp．
268‑273．

ADDENDUM
This article， THE HUMAN BODY AS A NEW COMMODITY， is thetext of my oral presentation at the 4th World Congress of Bioethics， which washeld in Tokyo， Japan， Nov． 4th‑7th， 1998．

This article is based on my latest paper，
Human Revolution，Organ Transplantation and thein Transplantation Proceedings， vol． 31， 1999， pp． 1317‑1319． 1 wrote this article by deleting some parts and adding some new parts，

including most of the references， to the paper published in Transplantation

Proceedings．
This article and the oral presentation at the 4th World Congress of Bioethics

have reported parts of my research onTechnologies，

The Human Revolution Due to Medical

which was funded by the lnstitute of Economic Research，Tokuyama university， Japan．

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