\n
LYON,
\n France, Dec. 2 – The world’s first person to wear a new face awoke in
\n the northern city of Amiens, France,
\n on Monday – 24 hours after doctors put her to sleep – and looked in the
\n mirror.<\/p>\nThe swollen nose, lips and chin she saw there were not her own – those
\n had been ripped from her head by her pet Labrador retriever in May –
\n but they were a blessing for a woman whose face had become a lipless
\n grimace.
\n She took a pen and paper and wrote for the doctors, "Merci."<\/p>\nThose doctors on Friday defended their rush to give the woman a new face,
\n despite the enormous risks of death and psychological difficulties posed
\n by the procedure, just months after her disfigurement. They dismissed assertions
\n that they were bent on glory at the patient’s expense.<\/p>\nfrom the
\n New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nAs the accompanying diagram clearly shows, the mania
\n for transplants has reached the point where virtually every part of the
\n body is theoretically available for transplant replacement. A scary thought…<\/p>\nThe problem is not the tricky surgical techniques necessary
\n to effect such operations. With nano-technology, computer-assisted
\n scalpels and imaging, and fantastic new anti-rejection drugs (the Dowbrigade
\n has been using those since high school) the reality is that if anything
\n goes – it can be replaced.<\/p>\nNo, the problem is where all of the replacement
\n parts are going to come from. We had this debate – human cloning
\n for replacement parts – in class last week, and the conclusion was that
\n it
\n was a great idea, as long as you could grow the clones as a sort of brainless
\n sack of organs – no mind, no awareness, no soul, just a meat locker of
\n spare parts.<\/p>\nAt the same time, we know that somewhere, in a magnificently
\n equipped bleeding edge high-tech laboratory buried under a mountain or
\n in a super-secure bunker on a black op military base in some third world
\n dictatorship, there is a crack team of transplant specialists working
\n on effecting the ultimate transplant – the Brain Transplant.<\/p>\nThis is the Big Kahuna – the final frontier in transplant
\n technology. Swapping brains – or complete heads – has been a science-fiction
\n fantasy since the times of the Greeks. Who would want a head transplant?
\n Well, duh – just every egomaniacal multi-Billionaire
\n who
\n is afraid of
\n dying,
\n wants
\n to
\n live forever, and is willing to spend every last ill-gotten dime accumulated
\n over a lifetime of avarice, manipulation and extortion to the cause of
\n cheating the big "D".<\/p>\nImagine being able to grow unlimited replacement bodies,
\n young, strong and strapping, fit as fiddles and ready for action. One
\n complicated but scientifically feasible operation to swap the brainpans,
\n and you would be good to go – for another 40 or 50 years, easy. Who wouldn’t
\n want to live forever in a young, healthy, handsome body?<\/p>\nUnscrupulous and locally omnipotent leaders would not
\n even have to wait 16 years to grow a replacement body from their own
\n cloned cells – they could recruit prime physical "volunteers" from within
\n their
\n populations
\n and get them to swap bodies "for the good of the Republic." Benevolent
\n dictators might give the unfortunate donors a few short, sweet years
\n of continued existence in the leader’s old, worn-out bodies – complete
\n with 40 Virgins (which they probably won’t be able to do anything with
\n in those decrepit, used-up shells), unlimited luxury, medals and honors,
\n and the best pain-killing drugs.<\/p>\nGiven the surfeit of suicide bombers, can anyone doubt
\n the potential availability of patriotic body donors? <\/p>\nThis is the logical and inevitable endpoint of all of
\n the advances in transplant techniques over the past 60 years. It may
\n have already been attempted, or even perfected, although the parties
\n involved would understandably want to keep things under wraps until modern
\n morality catches up with medical advances. But think of the possibilities. We
\n might still be dealing with President Bush in the 23rd century. Now that’s
\n a scary thought indeed….<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LYON, France, Dec. 2 – The world’s first person to wear a new face awoke in the northern city of Amiens, France, on Monday – 24 hours after doctors put her to sleep – and looked in the mirror. The … Continue reading