Human head transplant is contemplated using tiny graphene nanoribbon scaffolds | Hacker News Reader

Human head transplant is contemplated using tiny graphene nanoribbon scaffolds

christopherreeve.org

8 pointsaj78 comments

I’ve always wondered why it’s called a head transplant not a full body transplant.

I suppose it’s described from the surgeon’s POV not the patient’s POV.

Ok this is really a click bait title.

It is about nerve repair but it is very unclear if it works because they only got one rat left to prove it.

But I wonder: if you cut a nerve with a scalpel it is very clear where the cut is. But is this also clear with a damaged nerve in the spinal cord? Let's say this method of nerve repair works, would we be able to locate the position of the damage in a nerve?

When this is perfected I wonder if a rich old person would be tempted to have a person with the body they want, to be kidnapped and have their own head transplanted on to it to give them a longer life.

Tempted, perhaps. But given the developments in organ culture and separately in bioprinting, I expect that by the time it’s possible, we will be able to make new bodies.

Related open question for everyone: Is anyone experimenting with printing cryonically preserved cells? I understand that one of the problems with 3D bioprinting at the moment is that the tissue doesn’t live long enough to survive the printing process, while one of the problems with cryonics is that only very small samples can be frozen fast enough to avoid tissue damage. As I’m no biologist, while these “feel like” they would solve each other’s problems, I don’t trust my intuition.

Well given that organs are already being sold on the black market, I don't see what the difference would be here.

See the movies Parts: The Clonus Horror or the spiritual remake The Island for an alternative that works without kidnapping.

Sigh.

The article isn't really about a head transplant. It's about developments in spinal cord repair, as can be inferred from the URL.

Sheesh, what we call science these days...

What ever happened to data, experimentation and rigor?

What is science without subscribing to the scientific method?

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