he world has seen a lot of strange things, but to finally see an organic body with no life become functional with the aid of technology is a whole different story. OSCAR, a living entity made from human cells, was created. Cornelis Vlasman is the protagonist, a versatile biologist for whom the well-traveled path is by definition the least intriguing. He so establishes his own laboratory with a few like-minded individuals, in which he experiments with organic materials on his own initiative, with his own resources, and with his own crew.

Vlasman’s team succeeds after many years of hard work in producing new life from cells obtained from his own body. OSCAR, the world’s first living organism, is built under his supervision. OSCAR is a person-sized prototype made out of interactive organ modules produced from human cells.

What distinguishes OSCAR is the thought process that precedes the organism, which boils down to this: (human) life can be viewed as a closed system, but when addressed as a modular system, it can lead to novel applications and solutions.

Parts of a closed system are constructed in such a way that they can only function in one precise configuration, making repairs and modifications extremely difficult. The first Apple Macintosh, released in 1988, is an example of a closed system.

Independent modules, comparable to building blocks, make up a transformable and hence adaptable configuration in a modular system. Dave Hakkens created a Modular Phone in 2013 that is made up of different elements that may be replaced and modified individually.

OSCAR Vlasman’s creature reveals the possibility of creating modular life. Stem cells have the ability to be reprogrammed, grown, and printed into any sort of human tissue. The border between people and machines is progressively blurring. The Modular body is made up of different segments or modules such as:

• Brain Module (Fully Electric)
• Lung Module
• Heart Module
• Kidney Module
• Limb Module

The OSCAR prototype brings up new options for the human body, such as replacing or upgrading worn-out organs in a potentially ‘clickable’ system. Consider Lego as a metaphor.

Much research in biotechnology is now being undertaken using printed organs, regenerated tissue, and synthetic blood. Organovo, one of the world’s leading biotech firms, anticipates printing a functional liver by 2014. Considering the complete human body as a potentially modular system is not (or has not yet been) possible.

But finally, OSCAR is fully functional as you can see in the video below.

A very interesting aspect about OSCAR is that besides being created from human cells, the blood that runs in him is also human, in fact, it is the blood from its creator, Cornelis Vlasman. More information on the creation of this alien-looking like creature is offered at http://www.themodularbody.com.