Hey everyone.
I believe that human head and brain transplants will be feasible in about 200 years into the future.
Although many scientists would challenge the feasibility of this process, few would say that it is not eventually possible given current research into organ transplant and human cloning. It has been pointed out that the age of a body that a brain could be transplanted into should be sufficient. The adult-sized brain could only fit into the skull of a body at least seven years old as that is when the head reaches adult size.
Today, the procedure seems to be an unlikely if not impossible goal. However, other technologies, such as human cloning and genetic engineering, seemed equally impossible a generation ago.
The most significant barrier to the procedure is the inability of nerve tissue to heal properly. Scarred nerve tissue doesn't transmit signals well and this is the reason a spinal cord injury is so devastating. However, recent research involving tissue-regenerating mice may provide pointers for further research as to how to regenerate nerves without scarring.
However, the technology needed for cooling tissues to enable head transplantation is available and the procedure is already established. Two operations would need to be conducted simultaneously in the same operating room. All tissues and muscles in the neck would be separated and catheters coated in heparin would be inserted into arteries and vessels to ensure a continuous blood flow to the brain. The spinal cord would then be separated and the head transferred to the second body.
Interestingly, the technology needed for brain and head transplantation is already available today. However, the fact that technology is not yet sufficiently advanced to repair neural tissue like the spinal cord means that once severed, everything from the neck downwards would be paralyzed.
Dr. Robert White is a pioneering brain transplant surgeon, best known for his successful head transplants on monkeys. The scientist behind it wants to do the same thing to humans, but most other members of the scientific community have condemned the experiments as "grotesque".
He transplanted a whole monkey's head onto another monkey's body, and the animal survived for some time after the operation. The professor believes the operation is the next step in the transplant world. The monkey was conscious, and that it could see, hear, taste, and smell because the nerves were left intact in the head. He admitted that it could appear "grotesque", but said there had been ethical considerations throughout the history of organ transplants...
At each stage, kidney, heart, liver, and so forth, ethical considerations have been considered, especially with the heart, which was a major problem for many people and scientists, and the brain, because of its uniqueness poses a major ethical issue as far as the public and even the profession is concerned. We discovered that you can keep a human brain going without any circulation. It's dead for all practical purpose, for over an hour, then bring it back to life. If you want something that's a little bit science fiction, that is it!
Other scientists were not so pleased...
This is medical technology run completely mad and out of all proportion to what's needed.
Many people believe that the experiments are the sort that are wholly unethical and inappropriate for any possible reason. Some bioethicists would argue that there are difficult moral problems involved in harvesting a brain-dead body, especially one deliberately created using human cloning.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that a successful brain or head transplant has the potential to extend the life of a human being by more than 80 years and cure almost 90% of all human diseases.
200 years ago, people considered disease and injury to be the result of supernatural intervention and insisted that cures were only possible through prayer. We have come a long way since then. If the trend continues, I suspect that brain and head transplants will be feasible in about 200 years into the future, and along with it will come many drastic changes in almost all aspects of mankind.
I believe that human head and brain transplants will be feasible in about 200 years into the future.
Although many scientists would challenge the feasibility of this process, few would say that it is not eventually possible given current research into organ transplant and human cloning. It has been pointed out that the age of a body that a brain could be transplanted into should be sufficient. The adult-sized brain could only fit into the skull of a body at least seven years old as that is when the head reaches adult size.
Today, the procedure seems to be an unlikely if not impossible goal. However, other technologies, such as human cloning and genetic engineering, seemed equally impossible a generation ago.
The most significant barrier to the procedure is the inability of nerve tissue to heal properly. Scarred nerve tissue doesn't transmit signals well and this is the reason a spinal cord injury is so devastating. However, recent research involving tissue-regenerating mice may provide pointers for further research as to how to regenerate nerves without scarring.
However, the technology needed for cooling tissues to enable head transplantation is available and the procedure is already established. Two operations would need to be conducted simultaneously in the same operating room. All tissues and muscles in the neck would be separated and catheters coated in heparin would be inserted into arteries and vessels to ensure a continuous blood flow to the brain. The spinal cord would then be separated and the head transferred to the second body.
Interestingly, the technology needed for brain and head transplantation is already available today. However, the fact that technology is not yet sufficiently advanced to repair neural tissue like the spinal cord means that once severed, everything from the neck downwards would be paralyzed.
Dr. Robert White is a pioneering brain transplant surgeon, best known for his successful head transplants on monkeys. The scientist behind it wants to do the same thing to humans, but most other members of the scientific community have condemned the experiments as "grotesque".
He transplanted a whole monkey's head onto another monkey's body, and the animal survived for some time after the operation. The professor believes the operation is the next step in the transplant world. The monkey was conscious, and that it could see, hear, taste, and smell because the nerves were left intact in the head. He admitted that it could appear "grotesque", but said there had been ethical considerations throughout the history of organ transplants...
At each stage, kidney, heart, liver, and so forth, ethical considerations have been considered, especially with the heart, which was a major problem for many people and scientists, and the brain, because of its uniqueness poses a major ethical issue as far as the public and even the profession is concerned. We discovered that you can keep a human brain going without any circulation. It's dead for all practical purpose, for over an hour, then bring it back to life. If you want something that's a little bit science fiction, that is it!
Other scientists were not so pleased...
This is medical technology run completely mad and out of all proportion to what's needed.
Many people believe that the experiments are the sort that are wholly unethical and inappropriate for any possible reason. Some bioethicists would argue that there are difficult moral problems involved in harvesting a brain-dead body, especially one deliberately created using human cloning.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that a successful brain or head transplant has the potential to extend the life of a human being by more than 80 years and cure almost 90% of all human diseases.
200 years ago, people considered disease and injury to be the result of supernatural intervention and insisted that cures were only possible through prayer. We have come a long way since then. If the trend continues, I suspect that brain and head transplants will be feasible in about 200 years into the future, and along with it will come many drastic changes in almost all aspects of mankind.
