No animal exists that isn't too exotic to be made into meat or leather. Even human leather is Baked - the proceedings of capital trials were sometimes bound with the skin of the condemned; if you go to certain libraries, you can see for yourself what human leather feels like.
Now, medical technology has become adept at taking small patches of skin and growing them into large stretches to treat burn victims. So let us take this to the logical extreme, and make leather out of our own skins. With all these nips, tucks and facelifts, we must be leaving plenty of surplus skin lying around in doctor's wastebaskets that can be repurposed, after a bit of culturing.
So, go right ahead, and own the new height of fashion, a fine pair of gloves, shoes or even an attaché case, made from your very own skin.
[We will deal with the meat bit another time, once cloning technology has matured a little.]-- DrCurry, Jul 04 2002 The Pillow Book http://movie-review...ovies/p/pillow.htmlIn keeping with the theme. [polartomato, Jul 04 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004] Rings made from your own (lab-grown) bone http://www.biojewelry.co.uk/An art project, not a commercial venture. [DrCurry, Jan 03 2006] <early morning, Christmas Day; family is gathered around the tree; woman opens present>
Wow, a purse made of my own augmented breasts! You shouldn't have...-- polartomato, Jul 04 2002 Baked in SF as an 'Ownskin suit' in an Iain M. Banks book. I think it's 'Excession' but am not 100% sure.-- st3f, Jul 04 2002 Didn't Gieves & Hawkes make a suit out of hamsters?-- NickTheGreat, Jul 04 2002 Sort of baked. In Japan, and possibly in some other Eastern cultures, I believe there was a tradition of welthy people buying elaborate tatoos off poor ones; after the death of the owner, the tattooed skin would be carefully removed and tanned, then worn as an adornment.
I can't think of any actual moral or ethical objection to the idea proposed, I just find it a bit gruesome. But bear in mind the adage that "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
DrCurry: Please don't tell us about the "meat thing". I have a horrible feeling I know what exactly what you're going to suggest.-- 8th of 7, Jul 04 2002 Good idea. Are we warm enough to make gloves out of (I mean as opposed to animal skin that is designed to keep animals warm, like rabbit, polar bear, etc)? I guess with the addition of some Thinsulate, anything's possible.
[comments edited by the author to avoid offending anyone other than those offended by the original idea of human skin leather.]-- Matty, Jul 04 2002 Not an inherently bad idea; it would encourage doctors and hospitals to have cultured skin-grafts on hand when needed.
Alternately, genetically modify 'universal donor' human skin that can be slapped onto any burn victim without blood/tissue typing, much like O- blood can be transfused. After it's passed its 'sell by' date it can be made into leather goods and the proceeds go to supporting medical treatment for the uninsured, or the like.
Alternately, the form the cultured skin is grown on could be made in the form of the finished jacket/glove/purse, the skin tanned in one piece, and any zippers/snaps/whatever added later, constituting the extent of the sewing needed. Potentially, such seamless leather jackets and the like could be the Next Big Thing, or at the very least more durable and less prone to a blown seam.-- Chrontius, Nov 05 2004 See link: someone is intending to grow bone cells to make rings for some lucky (?) couple.-- DrCurry, Jan 03 2006 I would like to point out that the skin grafts made for burn patients contain only the top few layers of skin... not the lower layers of collagen which, in other animals, are used to produce workable leather.-- ye_river_xiv, May 14 2008 Ick.-- nomocrow, May 14 2008 I'd think one of those people who removed tons of skin after significant weight loss might like a reminder of their work. There's got to be at least enough for a wallet and a belt.-- snowfox, Jul 12 2009 This could be marketed under the "Soylent Green" brand ....-- 8th of 7, Jul 12 2009 still waiting-- fishboner, Jun 21 2010 Slow tanning, [fishboner]?-- pertinax, Jun 22 2010 Where is DrCurry these days? Much missed.-- xenzag, Jun 22 2010 vile (+)-- Voice, Jun 23 2010 random, halfbakery