Need to catch up? My first article on this topic can be found here.
Many questions presented in the Journal were thought-podiums for philosophical meanderings having little to do with reality, science, or medicine. However, the issues are presented as real and pressing conundrums. Besides the scientific difficulties of connecting two spinal cords, and their nervous and vascular connections, there are issues of host-graft rejection and immunosuppression, which are never even raised. Further, the value of targeting such surgery for individuals with quadriplegia, as some authors do, is contraindicated by far safer and currently available brain-to-computer interface technology (exoskeletons, computer-driven wheel-chairs, etc.
The Ethics of Head Transplants and Other Stories of Angels Dancing on Pins (Part II)
