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- A doctor who has performed head transplants in monkeys
wants to do the same experiment in humans. He is interested in seeing how
brains work in different bodies.
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- Would you like to have a brand new body? One that would
make you more competitive in the sexual marketplace? Allow you (if you're
currently shortish) to reverse dunk a basketball? Or perchance feel strong
and confident in the event of a sneak physical challenge?
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- Yes, a whole new body, but one stitched up to your very
own head. You obviously wouldn't want to lose your head because it wouldn't
be you any more, right?
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- A body transplant continues to be the bold dream of Dr.
Robert White, a neurosurgeon, who performed the complex surgery three decades
ago on monkeys at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. It involved
making numerous connections (including arteries and veins) between donor
monkey heads and headless monkey bodies.
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- When all was attached, White and colleagues sewed up
skin and muscle around the neck, and voila - the monkey heads awakened
with new bods. And vice versa, if you wish.
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- The monkeys actually lived up to nine hours and exhibited
some ability to see, hear, feel and taste. White recalls that "we
really weren't planning on seeing them alive for much longer because there
was so much more to learn about how such a transplant would work, the body
being so complex."
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- About two years ago, I produced a story on White's research
for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. He had come up with some detailed
plans on how the transplant procedure could be improved in monkeys and
how it might actually be performed in humans.
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- When the show aired, the network received many calls,
most of which were positive. Jennings interviewed Arthur Caplan, director
of the center for bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia,
who said that he was not suprised by the research, noting it was inevitable.
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- Research Motivated by Handicapped
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- White was motivated to pioneer total body transplants
because he felt that people whose bodies had badly deteriorated, such as
those who had spinal cord injuries but still possessed keen minds, might
want to stay alive if a body donor could be found.
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- The catch was - and is - that humans who might have this
surgery would not be able to move their new bodies. At least until medical
science learned how to entirely reconnect the new brain to the new body
as well as regenerate damaged spinal cords.
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- When I caught up with White this week, he remained hopeful
that the day of body transplants was dawning. "It's going to be done,"
he says. "I've been doing more thinking on the technique."
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- What he needs to move things along is about $5 million
to set up the appropriate experiments. "But you know, I might want
to do this outside the United States, maybe in Russia or the Ukraine, where
they have shown some real interest in this," he says. "I might
be able to do the work for half the money in one of those countries, and
if I don't do it, you can bet someone else will eventually."
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- Some people say they might volunteer if their bodies
deteriorate enough to warrant having the operation.
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- Pushing the Envelope
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- White knows he is pushing the envelope, even by talking
about this. He also understands that even though he is widely published
and acclaimed in his field, this business of moving a head from one body
to another is not exactly the most gracious way to top off a long and grand
career. "Look, just because I'm older now, does this mean that I have
to stop imagining how I can continue to contribute to science?"
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- White may be technically bold, yet he is also philosophically
inclined. He marvels at the brain's mysteries. He is awed by its complexities
and is humbled by its exquisite powers "that remain mostly secret."
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- Talk with him for an hour and you get the impression
that he would like to see human brains live forever, even if they need
new bodies for support.
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- Maybe this is what really drives his cause.
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- In the meantime, it won't hurt you if you fantasize a
little. In fact, right now, I'm thinking of slamming the perfect reverse
dunk. It's amazing what the brain lets you do.
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