Organlegging
Encyclopedia
Organlegging is the name of a fictional crime
in the Known Space
universe created by Larry Niven
. It is the illicit trade of black market human organs for transplant. The term organlegging is a portmanteau combining the words "organ
" and "bootlegging", literally the piracy and smuggling of organs.
The crime developed as a response to the Organ Bank Problem, a concept featured prominently in the early Known Space stories, particularly those set in the 21st and 22nd century. The Organ Bank Problem is a central theme in the novel A Gift from Earth
, as well as the Gil Hamilton
detective stories. As speculative fiction
, the concept is a prime example of a gedanken experiment. It is an examination of the consequences to society of a new technology (in this case, the perfection of organ transplants) and an existing problem (organ shortage), carried to a logical conclusion.
The effect of technology on society is a recurring theme
in Niven's stories.
nearly any organ in the body (and prevent rejection) by the mid 21st century. Since any organ could now be replaced, in theory one could use the organ banks to extend life indefinitely. To maintain communal organ banks, one needs donors (i.e. dead people). When the death rate is reduced (via the organ banks), the number of donors decreases. Thus, the supply of organs would continually reduce.
Compounding this problem, the high success rate of organ transplants tended to discourage research into other viable medical treatments. As a result, medical research was stagnated to a large extent, focusing primarily on improving transplants and little else. Repairing a failing organ (which could presumably fail again later) was considered secondary to the "complete" solution of replacing the failing organ.
An example in the Known Space universe was that anyone who wore eyeglasses was considered a reasonable candidate for an eye transplant (one or both); whereas in the real world, today's nearsighted population can solve the problem (temporarily) by wearing corrective lenses or (more permanently) by undergoing laser surgery.
wished to extend their lives, the world government sought to increase the supply by using condemned criminals to supply the organ banks. When this failed to meet the demand, citizens would vote for the death penalty for more and more trivial crimes. First violent crime
s, then theft
, tax evasion
, false advertising
, and even traffic violations
became punishable by the organ banks. This failed to solve the problem, as once the death penalty was passed for a crime, people stopped committing it. This resulted in nearly every crime meriting the death penalty. Further attempts to alleviate the problem by declaring certain groups of cryogenically frozen
people to be dead in law (the so-called "Freezer Bills") and harvesting their organs also proved to be unsuccessful. The freezer vaults represented a finite supply and therefore were eventually exhausted.
The Belters
took a different approach. They viewed survival as a virtue in and of itself, and were reluctant to turn otherwise healthy people into transplant stock. They preferred prosthetics to transplants wherever practical. Their solution to the problem was to keep transplant prices as high as the market would allow, thus dropping demand to meet the supply.
Colony worlds each took their own approaches. A notable example was the human colony of Plateau
. Society was divided into a rigid caste system, with descendants of the Colony ship "Crew" holding absolute power over the descendants of the ship's passengers, or "Colonists". The Crew controlled the planet's entire industrial infrastructure, including all access to organs and transplants. Successive colonist resistance movements provided much of the material for the organ banks, crew were unlikely to be sentenced there. They in effect controlled both supply and demand by their absolute rule.
The first group (the "snatch men") usually consisted of young, tough, uneducated males, with just enough intelligence to capture a prospect, and get him or her to the harvesting facility alive without getting caught.
The second group were the "doctors", the ones who harvested the organs and kept them ready for transport to a customer at a moments notice. This was usually the safest aspect of the operation as the harvesting facility could be hidden in a remote location, and the doctors had little or no public contact.
The third group (usually referred to as "organleggers" proper) were the ones who found potential customers, and delivered the organs to them. They were salespeople and field surgeons at the same time. The advent of automated precision surgical equipment allowed them to transplant the organs on the spot and required minimal training to operate. This was by far the most dangerous aspect of the operation. Some customers would attempt to turn in the organleggers in a fit of conscience
after receiving their transplant. At least one pair of organleggers were killed by a customer attempting to cover his tracks for another crime. For this reason, they changed their identities, faces, and other physical characteristics frequently—a simple process given that they can use their own stockpiles for cosmetic grafts.
, ultimately made the organ banks obsolete.
It is later revealed that this process was helped along significantly by the covert influence of former Belter
turned Protector
: Jack Brennan
.
/cyberpunk
setting Shadowrun
involves organlegger gangs, going not only organic organs, but cyberware
too. Many in this universe are operated or supported by ghoul
s, who help in the cleanup.
The Term Organ-legging is used multiple times by author Tanya Huff
in her book Blood Debt.
The 1990 novel by Anne McCaffrey, Pegasus in Flight
has a similar concept, organ farms, where the organs of street children
are removed for the use of the rich.
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
in the Known Space
Known Space
Known Space is the fictional setting of some dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....
universe created by Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
. It is the illicit trade of black market human organs for transplant. The term organlegging is a portmanteau combining the words "organ
Organ (anatomy)
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...
" and "bootlegging", literally the piracy and smuggling of organs.
The crime developed as a response to the Organ Bank Problem, a concept featured prominently in the early Known Space stories, particularly those set in the 21st and 22nd century. The Organ Bank Problem is a central theme in the novel A Gift from Earth
A Gift From Earth
A Gift From Earth is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven, first published in 1968 and set in his Known Space universe. The novel was originally serialized as "Slowboat Cargo."-Plot summary:...
, as well as the Gil Hamilton
Gil Hamilton
Gilbert Gilgamesh Hamilton is a fictional character in the Known Space universe created by Larry Niven. He is one of the few science fiction detectives to appear in the genre...
detective stories. As speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
, the concept is a prime example of a gedanken experiment. It is an examination of the consequences to society of a new technology (in this case, the perfection of organ transplants) and an existing problem (organ shortage), carried to a logical conclusion.
The effect of technology on society is a recurring theme
Theme (literature)
A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
in Niven's stories.
The organ bank problem
In Niven's universe, it was possible to transplantOrgan transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
nearly any organ in the body (and prevent rejection) by the mid 21st century. Since any organ could now be replaced, in theory one could use the organ banks to extend life indefinitely. To maintain communal organ banks, one needs donors (i.e. dead people). When the death rate is reduced (via the organ banks), the number of donors decreases. Thus, the supply of organs would continually reduce.
Compounding this problem, the high success rate of organ transplants tended to discourage research into other viable medical treatments. As a result, medical research was stagnated to a large extent, focusing primarily on improving transplants and little else. Repairing a failing organ (which could presumably fail again later) was considered secondary to the "complete" solution of replacing the failing organ.
An example in the Known Space universe was that anyone who wore eyeglasses was considered a reasonable candidate for an eye transplant (one or both); whereas in the real world, today's nearsighted population can solve the problem (temporarily) by wearing corrective lenses or (more permanently) by undergoing laser surgery.
Attempts by governments to solve the problem
On Earth, the problem led to a repressive society almost unrecognizable by today's standards. Since the average citizensFlatlander (Niven)
Flatlander is a 1995 collection of stories by Larry Niven, all set in Known Space. It is the definitive collection of all stories by Niven about ARM agent Gil Hamilton....
wished to extend their lives, the world government sought to increase the supply by using condemned criminals to supply the organ banks. When this failed to meet the demand, citizens would vote for the death penalty for more and more trivial crimes. First violent crime
Violent crime
A violent crime or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. Violent...
s, then theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
, tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
, false advertising
False advertising
False advertising or deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or...
, and even traffic violations
Moving violation
A moving violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "motion" distinguishes it from other violations such as parking violations, equipment violations, or paperwork violations relating to insurance, registration, inspection, etc.-...
became punishable by the organ banks. This failed to solve the problem, as once the death penalty was passed for a crime, people stopped committing it. This resulted in nearly every crime meriting the death penalty. Further attempts to alleviate the problem by declaring certain groups of cryogenically frozen
Cryonics
Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology...
people to be dead in law (the so-called "Freezer Bills") and harvesting their organs also proved to be unsuccessful. The freezer vaults represented a finite supply and therefore were eventually exhausted.
The Belters
Belter (Niven)
In Larry Niven's fictional Known Space universe, a Belter refers to a resident of the Asteroid Belt around Sol, sometimes known as the Sol Belt to differentiate it from Alpha Centauri's Serpent Swarm....
took a different approach. They viewed survival as a virtue in and of itself, and were reluctant to turn otherwise healthy people into transplant stock. They preferred prosthetics to transplants wherever practical. Their solution to the problem was to keep transplant prices as high as the market would allow, thus dropping demand to meet the supply.
Colony worlds each took their own approaches. A notable example was the human colony of Plateau
A Gift From Earth
A Gift From Earth is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven, first published in 1968 and set in his Known Space universe. The novel was originally serialized as "Slowboat Cargo."-Plot summary:...
. Society was divided into a rigid caste system, with descendants of the Colony ship "Crew" holding absolute power over the descendants of the ship's passengers, or "Colonists". The Crew controlled the planet's entire industrial infrastructure, including all access to organs and transplants. Successive colonist resistance movements provided much of the material for the organ banks, crew were unlikely to be sentenced there. They in effect controlled both supply and demand by their absolute rule.
Organlegging gangs
The crime of organlegging involves several aspects: abduction of unsupecting persons, the harvesting of their organs, and finding customers to purchase the organs once they were acquired. Thus a successful organlegging gang required three groups of people, one to handle each aspect of the operation.The first group (the "snatch men") usually consisted of young, tough, uneducated males, with just enough intelligence to capture a prospect, and get him or her to the harvesting facility alive without getting caught.
The second group were the "doctors", the ones who harvested the organs and kept them ready for transport to a customer at a moments notice. This was usually the safest aspect of the operation as the harvesting facility could be hidden in a remote location, and the doctors had little or no public contact.
The third group (usually referred to as "organleggers" proper) were the ones who found potential customers, and delivered the organs to them. They were salespeople and field surgeons at the same time. The advent of automated precision surgical equipment allowed them to transplant the organs on the spot and required minimal training to operate. This was by far the most dangerous aspect of the operation. Some customers would attempt to turn in the organleggers in a fit of conscience
Conscience
Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
after receiving their transplant. At least one pair of organleggers were killed by a customer attempting to cover his tracks for another crime. For this reason, they changed their identities, faces, and other physical characteristics frequently—a simple process given that they can use their own stockpiles for cosmetic grafts.
End of organlegging in the Known Space universe
The only way to end the organlegging problem was to reduce the demand for human organs. Given the desire of humans to extend their lives, the only way to reduce the demand was to find a substitute for transplant stock. However, the draconian anti-technology laws of the ARM hindered all developments. It was not until the mid-24th century that alloplasty, improved prosthetics, and most importantly, the ability to grow the needed organs by manipulating one's own DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
, ultimately made the organ banks obsolete.
It is later revealed that this process was helped along significantly by the covert influence of former Belter
Belter (Niven)
In Larry Niven's fictional Known Space universe, a Belter refers to a resident of the Asteroid Belt around Sol, sometimes known as the Sol Belt to differentiate it from Alpha Centauri's Serpent Swarm....
turned Protector
Pak Protector
Pak Breeders and Pak Protectors are two forms of fictional life in Larry Niven's Known Space universe. The Pak first appeared in "The Adults," which appeared in Galaxy in 1967; this story was expanded into the novel Protector by Larry Niven...
: Jack Brennan
Protector (novel)
Protector is a 1973 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe. It was nominated for the Hugo in 1974, and placed fourth in the annual Locus poll for that year....
.
In other fiction
The concept of organlegging has expanded beyond the Known Space settings. The fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
/cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
setting Shadowrun
Shadowrun
Shadowrun is a role-playing game set in a near-future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, horror, and detective fiction.The original game has spawned...
involves organlegger gangs, going not only organic organs, but cyberware
Cyberware
For other uses; see Cyberware Cyberware is a relatively new and unknown field...
too. Many in this universe are operated or supported by ghoul
Ghoul
A ghoul is a folkloric monster associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead. The oldest surviving literature that mention ghouls is likely One Thousand and One Nights...
s, who help in the cleanup.
The Term Organ-legging is used multiple times by author Tanya Huff
Tanya Huff
Tanya Sue Huff is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science-fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood...
in her book Blood Debt.
The 1990 novel by Anne McCaffrey, Pegasus in Flight
Pegasus in Flight
Pegasus in Flight is a science fiction novel by Anne McCaffrey set in her "Talents Universe". It is the sequel to a 1973 collection of short stories, To Ride Pegasus, and its 2000 sequel Pegasus in Space completed a trilogy....
has a similar concept, organ farms, where the organs of street children
Street children
A street child is a child who lives on the streets of a city, deprived of family care and protection. Most children on the streets are between the ages of about 5 and 17 years old.Street children live in junk boxes, parks or on the street itself...
are removed for the use of the rich.
See also
- Known SpaceKnown SpaceKnown Space is the fictional setting of some dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....
- Flatlander
- Gil HamiltonGil HamiltonGilbert Gilgamesh Hamilton is a fictional character in the Known Space universe created by Larry Niven. He is one of the few science fiction detectives to appear in the genre...
- The ARM
- A Gift From EarthA Gift From EarthA Gift From Earth is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven, first published in 1968 and set in his Known Space universe. The novel was originally serialized as "Slowboat Cargo."-Plot summary:...
- Organ theftOrgan theftOrgan harvesting refers to the removal, preservation and use of human organs and tissue from the bodies of the recently deceased to be used in surgical transplants on the living...
- ComaComa (film)Coma is a 1978 suspense film based on the novel of the same name by Robin Cook. The film rights were acquired by director Michael Crichton, and the movie was produced by Martin Erlichmann for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
- Repo Men
- Parts: The Clonus HorrorParts: The Clonus HorrorParts: The Clonus Horror, also known as Clonus, is a 1979 science fiction horror film about an isolated community in a remote desert area, where clones are bred to serve as a source of replacement organs for the wealthy and powerful...
- The IslandThe Island (2005 film)The Island is a 2005 American science fiction/thriller film directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was released on July 22, 2005 in the United States, and was nominated for three awards including the Teen Choice Award....
- Science fiction genres and related topics
- List of science fiction themes