Dead could be brought 'back to life' in groundbreaking project

The London Telegraph ^ | May 3, 2016 | Sarah Knapton, science editor

[minnesota_bound]

What you end up with is.... zombies!!

[OneHun]

"....future therapeutic development for other severe disorders of consciousness, such as coma, and the vegetative and minimally conscious states, as well as a range of degenerative CNS conditions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease."

Interesting trial.  Hopefully they will succeed and extend their focus on serious stroke patients, too. 

 

[Mad Dawgg]

you should probably weigh-in on this matter....

[MUDDOG]

LOL!

[SaveFerris]

lol - I had already guessed you’d be here, lol.

[cynwoody]

A biotech company in the US has been granted ethical permission to recruit 20 patients who have been declared clinically dead from a traumatic brain injury, to test whether parts of their central nervous system can be brought back to life.

How does one 'recruit' the 'clinically dead'?

After all, if their 'central nervous system' needs to be brought to back to life, how can it possibly comprehend the concept of consenting to an experimental procedure?

Not that this means the experiment shouldn't be done ... only that it shouldn't be framed in such unctuous ethical nonsense.

[cynwoody]

Doesn’t sound apllicable to old age.

Old age is a brain injury either ongoing or waiting to happen or some of both.

[MUDDOG]

True, but not a “traumatic” injury.

[setha]

No, but this is how we get there.

[urbanpovertylawcenter]

It’s alive!

[Fresh Wind]

[Jeff Chandler]

Paging Mary Shelly . . .

[Darteaus94025]

Will they be able to revive Hillary from brain death?

[Pollster1]

[exDemMom]

Since these people are already brain dead--meaning their brain is kaput and their soul has left the premises--I wonder what these researchers hope to gain from this?

At best, they could induce a new brain to grow in that body. That would make a new person. Depending on the source of the stem cells, that new person would be dramatically different. Plus, uneducated. There is a strong moral component to placing a new person in an old body--I'd call it extremely unethical. Then there is the practical component that this person would need to be educated--who wants to deal with an infant in an adult body, with all of the emotional outbursts and so forth?

Maybe for purposes of repairing badly damaged brains where the original person is still present--like Terri Schindler--this technique would have applications. We would still have to reeducate the person, and they would not be the same as prior to the injury. But replacing dead brains? I don't think we want to go there.

[MeanWestTexan]

Zombies! It’s how it starts.

[MeanWestTexan]

Sounds like it’s about the USA. We’re toast.

[grey_whiskers]

Give up. Cruz already dropped out!

...but there are others.

[Sacajaweau]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/medical-errors-now-3rd-leading-cause-of-death-in-u-s-study-suggests/

[nclaurel]

What if they brought a portion of the brain back just enough to allow realization of the situation with no ability to communicate or alter it. This is a horrible idea!