What are your organs worth?

People openly sell blood, hair, sperm, eggs, virginity and, on many black markets, organs. PopSci.com, a companion site to  Popular Science, recently questioned numerous organ-trafficking researchers to determine the price for organs that a person could live without.

Apparently most humans can live a full life without: a lung, all of their intestines, an eye, part of the liver and one kidney. Many organs are donated at time of death decreasing their value, and in the United States, it is illegal to sell organs but the biggest market seems to be for kidneys.

PopSci.com found the price of a kidney to be based on location:

India:  $20,000 (€14,750)
China: $40, 000 (€29,500)
Israel: $160,000 (€118,000)

eBay, an online auction site, and Craigslist, a social marketplace, had postings where people attempted to sell kidneys: the offers ranged from $100,000 (€73,440) plus medical expenses and to bids of $5.75 million (€3.78 million). Both sites removed the postings.

The market could get a lot more interesting once the US Congress decides on the Organ Trafficking Prohibition Act of 2009 as it would allow payment to organ donors.

Full article on PopSci.com: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-01/which-organs-can-i-live-without-and-how-much-cash-can-i-get-them