Yup, Face Transplants

BBC News announced on October 25, 2006 in the online article “UK gets face transplant go-ahead” (found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6083392.stm) that surgeons in London have been granted permission to select patients for performing the world’s first full face transplant surgery.

The ethics committee of London’s Royal Free Hospital gave Peter Butler and his team of surgeons consent to perform a full face transplant surgery. Only a partial face transplant has been successfully performed. Butler and his colleagues now start the process of finding candidates for the full face transplant operation, who must be able to handle the psychological impacts that the surgery will have on them. The transplant operation consists of two major steps. In the first step, surgeons remove from a donor the skin, muscle, and fat of the face area in addition to eight blood vessels, four arteries and four veins. Secondly, the bloods vessels, arteries, veins, and nerves are connected to the recipient over the course of several hours. Once surgery is completed, the patient must take immunosuppressant drugs so that they will not reject the foreign tissue that is now their face. Due to the recipient’s own unique bone structure, they should appear different than the donor.

The research and study done in face transplants motivates scientists for years. Butler has not only been studying the surgery itself, but has also familiarized himself with how the body can reject tissue, mental issues, and the impact of identity. Butler wants to give a sense of hope and normality to patients still unsatisfied after many, many reconstructive surgeries. Because of the controversial nature of face transplants, which touch on the loss and augmentation of one’s identity, surgeons such as Butler are extremely motivated to introduce new medicine, yet remain cautious due to the intense risks that they can havoc on an unstable patient. Scientists also play a large role in deciding if such a procedure lines up with morality. Members of the hospital’s ethics committee must seriously decide whether to progress or halt a decade of research by people such as Butler. In addition to deciding if the immunosuppressant drugs are safe, the committee bears the task of being able to see how science and philosophy intertwine. This physical surgery has great mental effects which relate to identity, how people recognized each other, and how people recognize themselves.

The issue of identity is a prevalent one. I believe full face transplants have great potential to give those suffering from disfigured or injured faces a chance to live a normal life without being shunned by society. However, I fear the line where face transplants can be used for the wrong reasons. For instance, the surgery could one day go as far as to aid a fleeing criminal, play a role in identity theft, and reshape the entire spectrum of plastic surgery, maybe even customizing a face that you wish to have. I find it comforting that groups, such as the Royal Free Hospital’s ethics committee, take the time to consider the social effects of atypical procedures. Scientists should continue to monitor their fellow researchers and doctors so that scientific progress can be used for the greatest benefit to the public, and not be wasted on those who do not truly appreciate it, which could bring harsh affects to the way we live.

“A New Way to Be Human”

James van der Pool explores in the BBC News online article “Introducing humans version 2.0” (found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6076860.stm), posted on October 24, 2006, the ramifications of computers with equal or greater intelligence than a human.

Neuroscientists have been making headway in creating computers to perform functions of the human brain. Using silicon implants on the brain connected to a computer, external mechanisms can be controlled by the simple act of thought. Researchers started with tests on animals. John Chapin of the State University of New York placed electrodes on a rat’s brain so that he could use radio signals to control the rat’s whiskers. Duke University’s Miguel Nicolelis has connected the brains of monkeys to computers so that the monkeys can control robotic arms just by thinking about it. Human brains have also been tested. Connecting the brain of a mute paralyzed man to a computer, scientists are slowly training the computer to read the man’s brain activity, translating his thought of speech into computer-generated sounds. In another study, another paralyzed man was outfitted with a brain implant that allowed him to actually move objects using his thoughts.

The neuroscientists that are on the forefront of these “artificial intellects” are branching into a field of great ethical debate. Many experts predict that as computer power continues to grow, a computer may soon reach the intelligence level of human beings. Chapin wants his “remote control rat” to help him understand how each part of the brain works and what each part operates. Other than attempting to better understand how the brain functions, other scientists feel a nobler and more social purpose arises from artificial intellects. Nicolelis believes that, with this technology, “the brain is finally freed from the body and it can act upon the world directly.” Downloading our thoughts to computer, improving existing intelligence, and mind-control with silicon implants gives scientists the opportunity to forcibly control other humans and the ability to create a new species, in essence. In creating machines that hold the ability to exceed our own intelligence, scientists must be ready to deal with issues such as man’s immortality, playing God, and a world where humans could be repressed by beings greater than themselves.

Hugo de Garis, who has contributed to developing machines who can gradually improve their intelligence, fears that the advent of artificial intellects would create a world reminiscent to George Orwell’s “1984.” I cannot help but think the same. Scientists must be aware of the danger of letting this technology get out of hand or get into the wrong pair of hands. While, computer-enhanced intelligence can benefit those who need assistance, such as paralytic victims, allowing computer intellect to supersede our own may have disastrous results. Such machines will then be out of our control and exist outside of our understanding. Becoming the inferior beings of Earth may be a shock to the human race’s system that we may not take. Man may me immortal, but such a trait will come at a great price of oppression.

Striding Towards “Smellovision”?

On October 13, 2006, BBC News investigates in the online article “Creating a stink in the name of science” (found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6043428.stm) the work of researchers to create synthetic smells.

Professor Takamichi Nakamoto at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has created and developed various machines and devices to recognize and reproduce scents. One “odor recorder” uses a sensor to pick up a given smell and then mixes various chemicals in order to reproduce the smell. For example, a lemon can be placed to the electronic smell receptor and the lemon scent is recorded, analyzed, and a chemical combination is created to try to match the lemon scent that was picked up. Similar to the most basic functions of a rudimentary brain, the machine’s “neural network” is the electronic control system that analyses scent. The device, however, usually doesn’t match the smell right on the first try. It must compare its produced scent with the recorded scent to gradually and slowly make adjustments so a more distinguished smell is ultimately made. The power of the device is limited as there are an infinite number of scents and only so many chemicals that Nakamoto and his team can load into the machine at a time.

Nakamoto’s goal is to be able to one day reproduce all smells. Already, their technology has been used in Japanese virtual games and in some Japanese cinemas, where films such as The New World and Spirited Away has screened certain scenes with correlating scents. Though, “smellovision” for television has been researched in the past, Nakamoto believes that scent is a great benefit today for enhancing learning. He asserts that a person can retain information better when that information is presented to them in conjunction with a smell. Though Nakamoto sees the most probable uses for his work in the fragrance and entertainment industries, it appears he ultimately wants synthetic smell reproduction to improve the way people are educated and perceive worlds that they may not have direct access to.

Initially, many tend to think of the idea of “smellovision” or of scented entertainment as an absurdity with no practical purpose. However, with intense and specified brainstorming and searching, there may be uses for this kind of research. For instance, the odor recorder could be used to improve learning programs and memory enhancement, or for streamlining businesses in the perfume industry. I think that the biggest obstacle will be getting those funding the development of this technology to overlook the obvious, superficial uses that marketers would be tempted to push on consumers, and use Nakamoto’s research for more profound and meaningful purposes.

Cancer Treatments Applying to Macular Degeneration

Science News Online reported on October 7, 2006 in the article “Improving the View: Treatment reverses macular degeneration” (found at: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061007/fob1.asp) that a modified cancer treatment may help those who may become blind due to the eye disease macular degeneration.

The wet form of macular degeneration, a common eye disease in elderly people, causes optical blood vessels grow at an above average rate causing extraneous fluid to be pushed into the macula, which is part of the eye that allows us to see small details and distinct features. This overgrowth of blood vessels can escalate to the point of causing vision loss. Ranibizumab, a drug used to slow down the growth of blood vessels in cancer tumors by stopping a growth-inducing protein, has recently been tested to prevent the same problem of blood vessel overgrowth in suffers of macular degeneration. In a test spanning a couple of years, the vision of macular degeneration patients who given treatments of ranibizumab improved by at least one line on an eye chart. Though some patients who received ranibizumab did not have any significant improvements in their eyesight, patients whose eyesight did improve did so drastically.

Experts say this type of approach to treating the blinding eye illness has never been tried before. Yet progress still must be made as ranibizumab has not shown possibility of being utilized as a concrete solution. David M. Brown, an eye surgeon from the Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, agrees that approaches to medicine are becoming increasingly complex as researchers take a deeper look into how a disease or virus specifically works so that they may create more effective ways to treat the fundamental processes that cause the disease. It is progressive that scientists are taking the creativity to borrow research and science from other areas, making connections and defying the conventional uses of treatments in medicine. Such researchers require initiative, willingness to take risks, and patience due to the fact that testing and observation of their work spans years.

I always find it intriguing when scientists borrow from areas that are usually considered separate from their field in order to progress their own field. Finding common threads in treatments for two dissimilar illnesses shows how the realms of science are interconnected and influence each other. These studies also show that care for the older generation and their well-being is still on the social list of priorities in a society where great emphasis is placed on the faced-paced lifestyles and fresh-faced motivations of the young. I hope that such cross-examination of science becomes more prevalent as many various fields, not just medicine, as the practice has the potential to benefit all types of research and foster amity and solidarity between different studies.

A Stimulation of the Blood Clotting Process

On October 4, 2006, in the online article “‘Artificial blood cells’ could heal surfaces” (found at: http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10231-artificial-blood-cells-could-heal-surfaces.html), NewScientist.com reported that new technology has been created to fill surface defects using microscopic capsules.

Using computer stimulation, researchers have developed models to show how “microscopic polymer capsules” can be used to fill in surface gaps on microscopic levels and in microscopic materials. The specialized capsules would be fed onto the damaged surface through a liquid medium so that the capsules could roll across. Both the surface and the capsules are coated with a water-repellent, or “hydrophobic,” substance to allow smooth movement between them. However, if the microcapsules reach a break in the hydrophobic layer, where a surface gap would be, they would naturally clump together at the defect because there would be no water-repellent material to allow the capsules to continue rolling. At the defective site, the capsules would steadily release nanoparticles that would fill in the gap in the surface. Once filled, and the planar surface back intact, the microcapsule can continue to flow with the liquid.

Anna Balazs leads the team of scientists at Pittsburgh University who have been studying models of this process on a level of nanometers. Basically, this process of filling in gaps is just a synthetic mimic of naturally occurring biological functions, such as the clotting of blood in the human body. I find it interesting that there are researchers whose sole goal is to recreate processes that already occur. However, it is odd that there seem to be no applicable motivators for Balazs and her team with their developments. They have just made a computer-generated model for other scientists and engineers to utilize and benefit from. Other studies conducted and overseen my Balazs all involve the explanation of how things move or function, very theoretical work. The greatest motivating factor for Balazs is not to discover or develop new ideas, but to help others do so by doing background work on what facts already exist.

I can definitely see the uses that a repairing process could benefit. For instance, this technology has could be used to fix micro-fluidic chips, scratched goggles or glasses, surface sensitive optical materials, microchip or computer parts, or even on compact discs. I find it slightly disheartening that some scientists are not willing to go the extra distance to apply their science. Though I am not denying that they may have very valid reasons for not doing so, this phenomenon may explain why scientific progress can be very slow and strenuous. It takes lengthy periods of time to develop, test, retest, and verify every specific detail of a scientific development, sometimes by a multitude of intellectuals from various different fields. I also can see the benefit of dividing up the work, if you will, allowing different researchers to specialize in a very narrow subject area. Though this make me time-exhaustive, this sort of peer review system is still good to maintain the integrity of scientific discovery and development.

Additional Sources:

Kuksenok, Katie, comp. "Soft Condensed Matter: Theory & Stimulation: Research Group of Professor Anna Balazs." 2 June 2006. Chemical Engineering Department, University of Pittsburgh. 4 Oct. 2006 .

"News: Dr. Anna Balazs." School of Engineering: University of Pittsburgh. 2 Aug. 2006. University of Pittsburgh. 4 Oct. 2006 .