Medical ethics and technology

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/doctor%e2%80%99s-plan-for-full-body-transplants-raises-doubts-even-in-daring-china/ar-AAgVAQM?ocid=spartandhp This particular issue in the story above is really about 2 issues. 1. Should it be done at all. 2. Should it even be attempted at this point when full success is unlikely. As for this debate as a whole, it reminds me of the cloning issue and other related issues such as genetic manipulation. Genetically engineering babies for specific physical traits, superior intelligence or resistance to certain diseases. As for the debate as a whole, I think lots of people have issues simply from the idea that it may be used in a bad way, reinforced from crappy sci-fi movies. You can use a rock for building a house or bashing someone's head in. Does that mean nobody should be allowed to have a rock? All technology will be used for good and bad but it's pointless to avoid developing technology because it might be used for bad. Any cutting edge technology will be used and developed somewhere and by someone whether in secret or not. I'm all for pushing the limits of science. However it makes sense to develop the technology until you can predict a success rate of 50%+ in the above mentioned situation for example. Someday we will just be able to 3d print new bodies as they can almost 3d print organs already. And maybe even stop the aging process. There will always be new ethical dilemmas that pop up with new technologies as well as people who use it for selfish or evil purposes.

@Loli-Chen: Reasonable, humane science though, right? At least I certainly hope so. Man...China dropping the ball not only ethically, but scientifically AGAIN. I've heard nothing but bad news in the way of their minuscule respect for human rights. Children getting run over in the streets, public rape and battery, dangerous working conditions. Makes me think that, at a pop of 1.4 billion, humans are seen as disposable. Coupled with a near-totalitarian government with an aggressive capitalist economic policy...its a recipe for disaster. But I digress. Back to the article, it is pretty despicable that they'd go ahead and try this procedure, with a nearly guaranteed chance of failure. The procedure and immediate outcome of head-transplants using primate animal models has been well-documented, and all of them have pointed to a "successful" procedure, ie the animal survived, but it was observed that it was in severe distress. In addition to this, the long-term effects of such a procedure are not known as they had to put down the subjects. For this man, euthanasia would be a far better alternative given the possible outcome and his current situation (also gathering from details about the family's financial woes stated near the end of the article). To me it appears that this is just a case of personal and/or national glory. Dr. Ren and/or China just want the chance to say that they did it first. It might even be possible that the government is offering an incentive for Dr. Ren to do it. But given the limitations and risks, no, this procedure should not be carried out at all. It's plain stupid. It's great that China can at the very least say that they have the upper hand in genetic research, because of the fewer limitations placed on their scientists, but that is entirely justified in the sense that they're not experimenting on sentient beings. The reason the US is behind is because a lot of people still think a blastocyst is a baby. In this regard, China (and I must mention S. Korea; lots of brilliant stem cell research is taking place there) have it right.

As a person who has lived in both Hong Kong and China, I can tell you that most of the rumors you hear about it are true. Some of them are over exaggerated for sure, such as the one where everyone would try to kill the person they ran over. But yes, the Chinese people are mostly self absorbed. But it's currently underchange thanks to the new generation and their plea for democracy. It'll happen in the next coming decades, I know it. As for body transplants... I can't say I disagree with them. Everything comes with risks and if the patient agrees to it, then, why not? As a person who understands the Chinese pride, I'd rather shoot myself than live the rest of my life paralyzed from the neck down. It's not a way to live. Personally, I would take the chance, even if it meant that I would only have a few weeks to live after the procedure is finished. Some people won't think it's worth it, but to me, it is. But China isn't doing it for the sake or pride and advances. They're doing it to boast. Every country makes "medical advances" in order to boast that they did it. Like nyquist says, there aren't many policies that restrict what sciences do if you compare them to the U.S.

This was attempted with monkeys back in the 1970s. Interestingly, the monkeys survived for about a week, but it wasn't an operation that cured paralysis. Instead it took healthy monkeys which ended up paralyzed after the procedure. Obviously, science has made some improvements since then, but there's no evidence that the result would be any different right now. On the subject of ethics, I agree with Sunbae about how things about China are exaggerated. This is my personal opinion, but I presume that if China was as ethically shortsighted in the sciences as this article suggests, then there would be some sort of human cloning lab there. This doesn't seem to exist, and this is a much more realistic endeavor than transplanting someone's head.

They might have a cloning lab and just not tell anyone because they are cloning super soldiers in preparation to take over the world.

@drmario: I bet we've read some of the same studies. But surprisingly, no advancements have been made in nerve regrowth in the spinal cord. Once those descending bundles of fibers are severed...it's near impossible to try and regrow them. The closest we've come is by applying NGF and pairing afferent stimulation to the severed area, to try and promote repair of the damaged circuitry. As far as I know, it's been semi-successful. Some functionality has been restored, but not to degree of pre-injury. Still needs some work there. As far as secret cloning labs in China go...I'm sure there are a few that exist. Now, are they successful in human cloning...probably not. But its only a matter of time before they pull it off. Matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if one of these days we hear a news story about the first successfully cloned human, originating from an Asian country.

There were already reports years ago about human cloning in Asia (I don't remember if it was S. Korea or China), but it was complete fabrication. Something as big as human cloning is probably impossible to keep secret. It's just like nations that have nuclear weapons. There are countries that have them "unofficially" but we are aware that they probably have them. It's just too hard to keep certain things on the down low. Now, labs for human organ production (for which there are legit labs doing research) may be more feasible to keep secret, but again, there's zero evidence that anyone is out there doing that in secret. Perhaps there is someone trying to make human clones, but without any evidence I might as well believe that there are also factories for producing real gundams. Again possible, but many things are possible and not true.

@drmario: I remember hearing a bit about that too! So it was a fabrication. Again, I'm not surprised. Especially with the propaganda machine that is the Chinese media; anything to make the motherland look superior on the international scene. Of course, the same thing kinda happens here, but its usually the media being stupid and quick to conclusions and misreporting any research findings, rather than outright lying. But be careful with your last few statements. They remind me of that one phrase, "The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence"; and unfortunately, people use that statement to fuel their conspiracy theory ramblings.