Head Transplants
The Issue at hand is whether scientist should continue research with complete head transplants or not. the edd goal of this research would be to operate a human with a full head transplant, where his head would be attached to a new body and the person would be able to regain all control of said body again.
If this were to be researched properly and executed successfully, it could allow for the standardisation of such procedures as is the case with organ transplants. Many with body disabilities or survivors of accidents would be able to live their lives as if nothing had happened. this would be a great step to further improve human health as a whole. This is something that everyone in the general public supports as such an advance would only be beneficial to the global community, bringing with it new insight into how our brain and body works with it.
The Major ethical implication that this research carries along research is what if it goes wrong. the few full head transplants that have already been carried out on monkeys, dogs and mice have resulted in the survival of the animal, but only for around a week, and in the case of the mice, only for a couple of minutes. What if this were to be done to a human, resulting in his death, or even worse, a monster of mixed genes. To Ensure this does not occur, hundreds if not thousands of trials will have to be done on animals, something that has become socially unacceptable in the last couple of decades. If and when the first trial becomes successful, more ethical implications will come along with it, such as who deserves or should be able to do the full body transplant, those with the money or those in need?
The pressure is coming from outside the scientific community as the head scientist stated himself that he would be happy to be the first patient. Of course, there are risks involved that all scientists involved should take into account, the most important being the risks that come with removing such an important part of the human body. Scientists state that their procedures, when they are implemented, will be reliable and allow for seamless transition of ones conscious from ones body to another. When the first human trial is attempted (if it is attempted), there will have to be full trust of the sponsoring governing body into the research, and therefore most probably the support of the nations population with it.
If this were to be researched properly and executed successfully, it could allow for the standardisation of such procedures as is the case with organ transplants. Many with body disabilities or survivors of accidents would be able to live their lives as if nothing had happened. this would be a great step to further improve human health as a whole. This is something that everyone in the general public supports as such an advance would only be beneficial to the global community, bringing with it new insight into how our brain and body works with it.
The Major ethical implication that this research carries along research is what if it goes wrong. the few full head transplants that have already been carried out on monkeys, dogs and mice have resulted in the survival of the animal, but only for around a week, and in the case of the mice, only for a couple of minutes. What if this were to be done to a human, resulting in his death, or even worse, a monster of mixed genes. To Ensure this does not occur, hundreds if not thousands of trials will have to be done on animals, something that has become socially unacceptable in the last couple of decades. If and when the first trial becomes successful, more ethical implications will come along with it, such as who deserves or should be able to do the full body transplant, those with the money or those in need?
The pressure is coming from outside the scientific community as the head scientist stated himself that he would be happy to be the first patient. Of course, there are risks involved that all scientists involved should take into account, the most important being the risks that come with removing such an important part of the human body. Scientists state that their procedures, when they are implemented, will be reliable and allow for seamless transition of ones conscious from ones body to another. When the first human trial is attempted (if it is attempted), there will have to be full trust of the sponsoring governing body into the research, and therefore most probably the support of the nations population with it.
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