Startup wants to clone human bodies without a brain

An American startup is developing a plan to grow human bodies that are genetically identical to those of its clients — but without the ability to think, feel, or perceive their surroundings. The proposal, revealed by MIT Technology Review, raises questions about the boundaries between scientific innovation and ethics.

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What R3 Bio is and what it proposes

R3 Bio is a company based in Richmond, California, that operated for a long time in secrecy, presenting its proposal only to selected investors. The founder, John Schloendorn, outlined plans to grow human bodies with minimal brain structure—enough to keep them alive, but without any capacity for consciousness or perception.

The central idea is that these bodies would function as a sort of biological insurance: if a client’s organ fails, there would be a genetically identical donor available. In his more extreme vision, Schloendorn even suggested that these bodies could receive a full brain transplant, offering the user a “second life” in a young body.

What the company says publicly

Publicly, R3 Bio presents more modest goals. In a statement to Wired, the company said its immediate focus is to create monkey “organ sacks” to replace animal testing. However, documents obtained by journalists indicate that the company’s ambitions go far beyond this official description.

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The company defends its right to maintain what it calls “hypothetical futuristic discussions,” without publicly committing to the more radical plans revealed in investor presentations.

Who is funding the project

The project has attracted capital from major figures in the investment world. Among its backers are billionaire Tim Draper, the Singapore-based fund Immortal Dragons, and LongGame Ventures. The financial interest reflects the growing market around what some call “biotechnological immortality.”

The reaction from the scientific community

The revelations triggered strong backlash among experts. Those who attended Schloendorn’s presentations compared the experience to meeting a character straight out of Dr. Strangelove, given how casually the creation of incomplete human beings was defended.

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Jose Cibelli, a researcher at Michigan State University, was blunt in his criticism of the project: he stated that no matter how creative private enterprise may be, limits must be established, and manufacturing a human being that “is not a human being” crosses that line. Beyond the moral issues, there are serious technical problems: the risk of deformities in cloning is still very high, and the absence of artificial wombs would mean that these bodies would have to be gestated by hired women.

R3 Bio is not alone

MIT Technology Review identified at least one other company working in similar territory: Kind Biotechnology, led by Justin Rebo. Its focus is to develop animals incapable of feeling pain, with the goal of producing high-quality organs at scale. Both companies are connected to a movement called “Vitalism,” which views the engineering of living beings as the most direct path to overcoming human aging.

Skepticism from top scientists themselves

Even among researchers who support the idea of extending human life, the proposal meets resistance. George Church, a renowned Harvard geneticist, described these brainless bodies as “repulsive and useless” at the current stage of science. Church argues that the vast majority of patients who need transplants require a specific organ, not an entire body — which makes R3 Bio’s approach technically questionable as well as ethically problematic.

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The debate surrounding R3 Bio exposes a growing tension in the field of biotechnology: how far the longevity market can advance before crossing boundaries that science, ethics, and society are not yet prepared to cross. For now, the unanswered questions far outweigh the available answers.