Re: AND THEN, JUST TRANSPLANT THE BRAIN... was Re: Headless frogs

Jsn@concentric.net
Mon, 20 Oct 1997 20:02:58 -0400 (EDT)



Max M wrote:

> 1) When I see old people driving around in their cars they seem to have
> a reaction time of about 2 seconds. Maybe we need more than just a
> transplant.

> 2) I would like a tooth transplant. Where do i get those from?

Why transplant?

I have maintained for years that the best way to get the average man
on the street to readily accept and endorse any kind of genetic
self-modification is to start with the teeth. You'd think that one of
the easiest genetic tricks in our upcoming bag of party favors would
be dental regeneration.

I don't the party is quite warranted yet, though.

While the possibility of brain transplants, raised elsewhere, is quite
attractive, we _do_ need to wait for the technology to actually
perform a brain transplant. Another downside is the need to wait 18
to 20 odd years for any clone bodies grown _right now_ to reach any
reasonable form of physical maturity. I don't know about the rest of
you, but even if it were possible to cram an adult human brain into a
three year old body, it doesn't sound like a lot of fun.

Talk about an industry, though-- the care and feeding of decerebrated
clones. How much per day do you figure it would cost to care for a
decerebrated clone? To make sure it is properly fed by whatever means?
Can't have a clone come out of the tank malnourished. To make sure it
is exercised by some means? Don't want an emaciated, atrophied clone
stumbling out of the tank.

I'm confident there are ways to do this all in the tank, as it were,
but I wouldn't think it would come cheap. Once an economy of scale
sets in, how much would you pay per day pe clone? Ten dollars?
Twenty? Fifty?

Think again when you consider that a conservative prospective immortal
might want to keep two or three clones in the tank at all times, as
insurance against accidental death and dismemberment, as well as
cloning malpractice. ("What good is a money back gaurantee!? You
gave me a clone with Parkinson's Disease, you goober!")

-- 
John S. Novak, III           jsn@cris.com
The Humblest Man on the Net