Imagine you have a rare form of cancer. While treating you, the physician, without your knowledge, saves your blood and tissue, applies for a patent on a unique protein they secrete, and sells the rights to a pharmaceutical company for millions of dollars. You sue, but the courts rule you have no property rights to your own body. Far-fetched? That's what happened to John Moore of Seattle, whose blood was found to contain an unusual viral antibody, and it's happening to increasing numbers of Americans every day, warn health-law experts Andrews and Nelkin.

Biotechnology has launched a commercial rush that makes each of us a biological gold mine. Almost every element of the body- including DNA, skin, blood, brain, bone, saliva, sperm, eggs- is in demand by biotech firms, academic and governmental research labs, and state and federal tissue repositories aiming to turn them into medical therapies and research aids that can generate astounding profits. Today a barrel of human blood products is worth $67,000; in contrast, a barrel of crude oil trades for around $30. At the Web site SkullsUnlimited.com, biocollectibles like human skulls range from $250 to $650, depending on the condition and the number of attached teeth, and fully articulated skeletons go for as much as $3,000.

The body-part trade has created a morass of legal and ethical issues that have yet to be confronted. Few laws exist to regulate the buying and selling of human tissues, and courts have been hesitant to impose restrictions, fearing that they will crimp medical progress. Beyond that, there is the issue of privacy. Tissues contain sensitive personal information about an individual's medical history and future health risks. More than 282 million tissue samples from more than 176 million individuals are stored in U.S. repositories, and 20 million new specimens are added each year. Soon, everyone will have his or her tissue on file.

More profoundly, the body bazaar is encouraging us to think of ourselves in purely utilitarian terms. "Body parts are extracted like a mineral, harvested like a crop, or mined like a resource," observe the authors. We are in danger of becoming commodified and reduced to objects, not people.