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A whole-body transplant or brain transplant is a hypothetical operation that would move the brain of one being into the body of another. It is a procedure distinct from head transplant, which involves transferring the entire head to a new body, as opposed to the brain only. Theoretically, a person with advanced organ failure could be given a new and functional body while keeping their own personality and memories.

Although many scientists have challenged the feasibility of this process, few would say that it was not possible given current research into organ transplant and human cloning. Some bioethicists^[who?] argue that there are difficult moral problems involved in either harvesting a brain-dead body, especially one deliberately created using human cloning, or otherwise acquiring a body (say, of a criminal due to be executed for a crime^{[citation needed]}, or an individual who is not dead but is soon to die of a brain-based illness^{[citation needed]}).

Though not feasible at current levels of technology and scientific understanding, this and similar concepts have been explored in various forms of fiction.

Existing challenges

One of the most significant barriers to the procedure is the inability of nerve tissue to heal properly; scarred nerve tissue does not transmit signals well (this is why a spinal cord injury is so devastating). However, recent research at the Wistar Institute of the University of Pennsylvania involving tissue-regenerating mice (known as MRL mice) may provide pointers for further research as to how to regenerate nerves without scarring.

There is also a potential problem of the new interface at the spinal cord, in that even if all the nerves are connected successfully, they may not transmit the same information as the same nerve connection in the old body. For example, a nerve that used to control the right index finger's muscle group might be connected to a different finger's muscle group, or another body part entirely. If this were to happen to a large number of connections, the person undergoing the transplant might end up with a body which transmitted sensory input to the wrong destination, making it incomprehensible and potentially requiring many years of rehabilitation.

Also, for the procedure to be practical, the age of the donated body must be sufficient: an adult brain cannot fit into a skull that has not reached its full growth, which occurs at age 9–12 years.

Partial brain transplant

An arguably more reasonable scenario is a partial brain transplant involving only enough tissue to provide key memories and a sense of continuity of identity. A fairly large but indeterminate amount of the brain is devoted to processing and controlling sensory, motor, and autonomic functions such as vision, olfaction, movement, appetite, etc.; transplanting these portions is likely to be difficult and, if the goal is to transfer memories and/or identity, unnecessary. The recipient body of such a transplant probably would have to possess a naïve and never-conscious brain or partial brain, such as in a never-conscious cloned soma. This is the premise of I of Persistence, a human life-extension manifesto and science fiction story. In that story, the older transplanted brain tissue is eventually removed and replaced with youthful tissue, restoring complete youthfulness with continuity (or persistence) of conscious identity.

In 1982 Dr. Dorothy T. Krieger, chief of endocrinology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, achieved notable success with a partial brain transplant in mice.^[1] A partial brain transplant would accomplish essentially the same goal — movement of a person's "identity" from one body to another — and thus qualify as a whole-body transplant no less than a full brain transplant. As Dr. Krieger demonstrated, barriers to accomplishing this feat might be much lower than transplantation of the entire brain.

In 1998, a team of surgeons from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center attempted to transplant a group of brain cells to Alma Cerasini, who had suffered a severe stroke that caused the loss of mobility in her right limbs as well as limited speech. The team's hope was that the cells would correct the listed damage.

Whole-body transplants in popular culture

Transplantation of a human brain from one body into another has appeared on occasion in popular literature. The intended effect is most often either horrific or comedic, though many of these stories explore the medical, ethical, legal, and other issues that would surround the procedure.

The transplant has been a common subject in horror films, most notably Frankenstein.
The Ultra-Humanite, one of the main villains opposing the Golden Age Superman and Justice Society of America, often "died" at the end of an encounter, only to have his surviving brain transplanted into a new (not always human) body by robots and/or henchmen.
The novel I Will Fear No Evil by Robert A. Heinlein features an elderly wealthy man who has his brain transplanted into the body of his deceased secretary.
In the 1970s manga Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka, Black Jack performs several brain transplants.
The 1972 movie The Thing with Two Heads featured a head transplant.
The 1983 Steve Martin comedy movie The Man with Two Brains revolves around brain transplantation.
The 1985 novel Black Star Rising by Frederik Pohl features a character who has had parts of multiple brains grafted onto his, each conveying a separate personality.
The 1986 TV movie "Who Is Julia?" revolves also around brain transplantation
In "The Defenseless Dead", a short story by Larry Niven, a criminal tries to hide by this means.
The novel Eva by Peter Dickinson focuses on the eponymous 14-year-old girl whose brain is transplanted into the body of a chimpanzee.
The premise for the 1999-2000 TV program Now and Again was the transplantation of lead character Michael Wiseman's brain into a genetically-engineered body to make him into a top-secret super-agent.
On the fictionalized version of the TV program Days of our Lives as shown on Friends, the dead body of Dr. Drake Ramoray, the character played by Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), has the brain of another character transplanted into it
The novel My Brother's Keeper by Charles Sheffield is based on a partial brain transplant. Identical twins suffer major injuries in a crash, including damage to one side of each of their heads. One twin is dying from the loss of vital organs, so a surgeon saves part of his brain by using it to replace part of his brother's.
In the 2006 Cartoon Network movie Re-Animated, the main character Jimmy Roberts (Dominic Janes) has to receive an emergency brain transplant because of a freak accident. He receives the brain of the late Milt Appleday (a parody of Walt Disney), and can see cartoon characters with his new brain.
In the novel Airhead (2008) by Meg Cabot, a normal girl gets a whole body transplant and thereafter lives as a supermodel.
In the film The Man with the Screaming Brain, a similar concept is explored by having two partial brains inhabiting the same body.
Wes Craven's 1999 book "Fountain Society" deals with this subject.
In the 2007 Korean movie The Game directed by In-ho Yun revolves around brain transplantation.

Similar concepts

The whole-body transplant is just one of several means of putting a consciousness into a new body that have been explored by both scientists and writers.

A similar procedure often found in science fiction is the transfer of one consciousness to another without moving the brain. This is found in many sources, most often a body swap between two characters of an ongoing television series; it occurs in the original Star Trek series twice, as well as Freaky friday, Farscape, Stargate SG-1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Red Dwarf, Avatar; even in Archie comics. Since there is no movement of the brain(s), however, this is not quite the same as a whole-body transplant.

In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Emperor Palpatine is able to transfer his consciousness into clone bodies. In a sense, this allows him to return to life after the Battle of Endor, as well as other events where his current body dies. The clone bodies aren't quite as good as his original body and waste quickly due to the decaying power of the Dark Side of the Force. Upon realizing this, he tries to take of the body of Anakin Solo, but is unsuccessful and eventually meets his final end.

Similar in many ways to this is the idea of mind uploading, promoted by Marvin Minsky and others with a mechanistic view of natural intelligence and an optimistic outlook regarding artificial intelligence. It is also a goal of Raëlism, a small cult based in Florida, France, and Quebec. However, while 'transplanting' sees the ultimate goal as being a new body optimized for that brain by genetics, proteomics, and/or other medical procedures and a transfer of the brain to that body, in the almost equally speculative procedure of 'downloading', the brain itself moves nowhere and may even be physically destroyed or discarded; the goal is rather to duplicate the information patterns contained within the brain.

Another similar literary theme, though different from either procedure described above, is the transplanting of a human brain into an artificial, usually robotic, body. Examples of this include Caprica, Fullmetal Alchemist, RoboCop; the DC Comics superhero Robotman; the Cybermen from the Doctor Who television series; or full-body cyborgs in many manga or works in the cyberpunk genre. In Star Trek, the episode "Spock's Brain" involves transplantation of the eponymous organ into a large computer-like structure, and in "I, Mudd" Uhura is offered immortality in an android body. The novel 'Harvest of Stars' by Poul Anderson features many central characters who undergo such transplants, and deals with the difficult decisions facing a human contemplating such a procedure.

In the Legends of Dune series by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson there are beings called cymeks, which are machines with human brains. The reason for transplanting their brains from human bodies to machines was a desire of immortality.

References

^ Ap (18 June 1982). "Transplant Success Reported With Part of a Mouse's Brain". The New York Times. San Francisco. p. 9. Retrieved 20 July 2010.

External links

Nanofiber Scaffold Supports Optic Nerve Regrowth [June 2006] (can be used to re-attach severed cranial nerves)

http://www.devicelink.com/mddi/archive/06/06/018.html

Organ Transplants Without Life on Medication [August 2006] (can be used instead of immunosuppressives, as the brain is no longer considered to be an immunologically privileged organ]

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-08-01-voa31.cfm

[Spinal Cord regeneration]

[1] Ap (18 June 1982). "Transplant Success Reported With Part of a Mouse's Brain". The New York Times. San Francisco. p. 9. Retrieved 20 July 2010.

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 Similar in many ways to this is the idea of [[mind uploading]], promoted by [[Marvin Minsky]] and others with a mechanistic view of natural intelligence and an optimistic outlook regarding [[artificial intelligence]].  It is also a goal of [[Raëlism]], a small cult based in Florida, France, and Quebec.  However, while 'transplanting' sees the ultimate goal as being a new body optimized for that brain by [[genetics]], [[proteomics]], and/or other medical procedures and a transfer of the brain to that body, in the almost equally speculative procedure of 'downloading', the brain itself moves nowhere and may even be physically destroyed or discarded; the goal is rather to duplicate the information patterns contained within the brain.
-Another similar literary theme, though different from either procedure described above, is the transplanting of a human brain into an artificial, usually robotic, body.  Examples of this include Caprica, Fullmetal Alchemist, ''[[RoboCop]]''; the [[DC Comics]] superhero [[Robotman (comics)|Robotman]]; t[[Cybermen]] from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' television series; or full-body cyborgs in many [[manga]] or works in the [[cyberpunk]] genre.  In ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', the episode "[[Spock's Brain]]" involves transplantation of the eponymous organ into a large computer-like structure, and in "[[I, Mudd]]" Uhura is offered immortality in an android body.  The novel 'Harvest of Stars' by [[Poul Anderson]] features many central characters who undergo such transplants, and deals with the difficult decisions facing a human contemplating such a procedure.
+Another similar literary theme, though different from either procedure described above, is the transplanting of a human brain into an artificial, usually robotic, body.  Examples of this include Caprica, Fullmetal Alchemist, ''[[RoboCop]]''; the [[DC Comics]] superhero [[Robotman (comics)|Robotman]]; the [[Cybermen]] from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' television series; or full-body cyborgs in many [[manga]] or works in the [[cyberpunk]] genre.  In ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', the episode "[[Spock's Brain]]" involves transplantation of the eponymous organ into a large computer-like structure, and in "[[I, Mudd]]" Uhura is offered immortality in an android body.  The novel 'Harvest of Stars' by [[Poul Anderson]] features many central characters who undergo such transplants, and deals with the difficult decisions facing a human contemplating such a procedure.
 In the [[Legends of Dune]] series by [[Brian Herbert]] and [[Kevin J. Anderson]] there are beings called [[cymek]]s, which are machines with human brains. The reason for transplanting their brains from human bodies to machines was a desire of immortality.