Yay for medical science!

Insert obligatory Face/Off quotes below the line
------------------------------------------------------

Neat. The only problem I can see is people wanting their faces to look like actors and such.

That's very cool! I wonder what else's nest to get transplanted

Good stuff. Limbs next, I reckon.

WeatherOp: You can get that already though - plastic surgery can completely change the shape of your face.

Good stuff. Limbs next, I reckon.
.

Already done. First done in Oz, I think; guy had an arm transplanted. Although I think he lost it as he stopped taking the immunosuppressants (so it was rejected); I think he had mental problems adapting to the new body part.

EDIT; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2828947.stm
Different story, but still interesting; double arm transplant in Austria.

"The transplant would have to come from a beating heart donor. So, say your sister was in intensive care, you would have to agree to allow their face to be removed before the ventilator was switched off.

"And there is the possibility that the donor would then carry on breathing."

It's pretty impressive, but that comment above is rather disturbing. We really do need to create a more permanent form of synthetic skin, but the damn stuff is one of the most complex organs other than the brain.

I think vat-growing will be the answer. Just grab a few stem cells, and grow the replacement parts, then graft them on. No problems with rejection, and no issues like in Flipside's quote. Give it 50 years, and I think it'll be a reality. Hell, a century or two should see geneering mean that people's bodies regenerate themselves...

I think vat-growing will be the answer. Just grab a few stem cells, and grow the replacement parts, then graft them on. No problems with rejection, and no issues like in Flipside's quote. Give it 50 years, and I think it'll be a reality. Hell, a century or two should see geneering mean that people's bodies regenerate themselves...

IIRC it's been predicted we'll have human transplantable organs, engineered and grown in surrogate donor animals, within 2 decades. So maybe even sooner.

I always think growing body parts or organs from your own tissues is the best solution of all for there will be no worry about immuno-rejection (or some scary mental side effects --ghee, I am wearing a human skin, and I like it!)

Worked in Silence of the Lambs

Seriously though, the idea that technology may be available soon that will allow those who can afford it to go on replacing body parts as they wear out is a little scary. Remember, it isn't just 'nice' people who could theoretically extend their lifespans by about another 60%.

I think it's wonderful that things like this exist, that people who have lost parts of their body have a chance to live a normal life again. However, cycnical as I am, I can see this turning into some kind of macabre 'spare part' market, it's bad enough with movie stars getting injections in their lips, silicon breasts which are purely for show etc.

There would be no excuse for looking after your health, 'oh look, my livers fucked through drinking so much, no problem, I'll get another one grown and carry on drinking'. Yes, that was a indirect reference to George Best. The possibilities for both gain and abuse are massive, and knowing mankind, there'll be a lot more of the second.

I ate my liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

I'm having my heart stuffed with aritichokes for lunch tomorrow


Seriously though I agree. They've already grown human ears on the back of a mouse so it shouldn't be that long before they've managed to do this using an appendage grown from the person's own tissue.

I'm having my heart stuffed with aritichokes for lunch tomorrow

Dude... artichokes?

Artichokes are great! If done properly, of course. I think I'll pass on the heart, though...

All good points. I think that the chances of abuse will be outweighed by the fact that people's brains still deteriorate at the same rate, so having the re-grown body of a 30-year-old is no good if you're in the advanced stages of dementia or alzheimer's etc. So until we can geneer the rate of brain decay (and the whole aging process if we can do brains) I don't think it'll be too much of an issue (though of course there will inevitably be some abuse).

Indeed, but even research into Stem cells is making headway (though, that said, it may also have hit a serious hurdle, apparently the cloned stem cells recently created are not an exact DNA match according to one verifier, this following the revelation that some of the cells taken for cloning were from members of the research team)

With stem cell research, it's possible to treat altzheimers and dementia and possibly do far more, it has far more potential then even the regrowing of organs, since, with the right instructions it is theoretically possible to create a person with e.g. a liver that rebuilds itself as it goes along. The possiblities are mindblowing, and equally terrifying.

That said, it's not something I'm worried about happening in the near future, Stem Cell research has a long way to go, I just pray they don't start jumping the gun for the sake of commercial profit.