If I was really desperate I have a standing offer to buy my hair for $1500 (I’m not desperate though). But this question should make all of us stop and think : What is it we really value in each other, and in life?
Estimates on how much cash individual body parts may bring are all over the place, based on the transplant market for vital organs & cell compounds -
• $1.3mil per gram for DNA.
• $ 2300 per gram for bone marrow.
• $91,000 for a kidney.
• $57,000 for a heart.
• $30,000 for an eye.
Throw in another $20k – $40k in fees a woman can make for donating healthy eggs to an infertile couple, and some medical economists figure the actual & potential value of a human body at roughly $43mil.
Beyond that is the question of how & why we ever put a dollar value on human existence. The largest ever jury award in a wrongful death case was $150 billion (from a Texas jury), for murder the price is the whole life of the guilty party, and when a gifted scientist or artist passes the loss can be felt for generations.
So what we are, and why we are, may come down to a lot more than just dollars and cents. At least I hope so.