Editorials by Bob

So you've gotten old. Some day, we all will (if we're fortunate). And maybe you're not as satisfied with your life as you'd like to be -- you'd like to keep going.

BrainTrans, Inc. has the solution!

Okay, seriously, the above web site is a piece of fiction. I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be comedy, speculative fiction, or something else, but the science there is currently the realm of science fiction.

But that might not last forever. Apparently there's been some research lately suggesting that a brain transplant -- more accurately called a "whole-body transplant" -- may be possible.

As shown in an article in Current Science from last December, there's been some interest in the ability to transplant a person's brain from one body to another for quite some time. Much of the hesitation has come from the inability of nerve damage to heal properly, and as I reported in this blog entry even that may be a thing of the past.

The new body would come from one of two sources: either someone with a healthy body has lost use of the brain (though there's been some suggestion of using death-row inmates), or the original person has a clone made with no brain in the first place (it's kept going by life-support).

Most scientists agree that the recipient's behavior is based on the brain, and not on the body. This study, perhaps the most successful brain-transplant work to date, supports that view.

As earlier blog entries at The Burning Question and Shots Across the Bow (and probably a few others) indicate, there are many ethical and logistical questions to sort out on this as well. Some are easy to sort out, while others are less so.

The main ethical issue, of course, is the status of the "body donor." In the case of a donor who is legitimately brain dead, we will need to have that status more clearly defined than we have now. If the person isn't truly dead, removing the brain prematurely could (at least morally) constitute murder. On the other hand, the idea of creating a full cloned body (sans brain) could easily be seen as creating a human being for purposes of being killed. Either has overtones of human sacrifice.

Mind you, I'm not against the use of this technology. I think it has fantastic potential. If it exists when I'm old and infirm, I may even look into taking advantage of it myself (not so much for a second chance at life, but a second chance at a life -- though more on that some other time).

Another intresting issue to consider is what the person's legal age would be after the operation. If I'm 84 and I have my brain transferred to a 14-year-old body, am I legally 84 or 14? Personally I think such a person should be considered 84 for most if not all purposes; after all, it's mental and emotional development, not physical stature, that really matters. But others might disagree.

Personally I'm going to keep my eye on the Wikipedia article on the topic, and any other news I can find, to track progress on this procedure.