The idea of clonal growth of one's own body double and a brain transplantation into it so as to live longer has  two parts or procedures which came from physician scientists Landrum Shettles, Ph.D., M.D. and Robert White, Ph.D., M.D. respectively Both procedures have a conceptual simplicity but there effects are far ranging. Both the technical, scientific and the bioethical, societal questions are addressed in turn in the following outline. Feel free to leave any compliments or contradictions in my e-mail at the end of the outline. I will try to answer all e-mail.

Body Transplantation (Brain Surgery)

I Human Cloning, Embryonic and Adult Techniques

Currently a company called Valiant Ventures, Inc. promises to offer adult human cloning (for infertile but wealthy couples primarily) for "as low as" $200, 000.00. It is sponsored by the International Raelian Movement which is a quasi-religious sect that teaches human origins are extraterrestrial. There views are akin to Eric Von Daikein's Chariots of the Gods book and the Ancient Astronaut Theory in general. Also, some excellent books on human cloning have come out recently. The most important is Remaking Eden, Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World by Dr. Lee M. Silver from Princeton's Departments of Molecular Biology, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology and the Program in Neuroscience. I am reading this book as of December 23, 1997 and find it fascinating. It tells about the scientific techniques primarily and their potential future impact. A book by Dr. Pence covers philosophical considerations only in a pro-cloning argument with his book Who's Afraid of Human Cloning? I presently (12-23-97) have this book on order. A third book takes various religious viewpoints into consideration called Human Cloning, Religious Responses. I have not looked at or ordered this book but probably will eventually.

Here Robert White, MD, Ph.D. shows his plans for human body transplantation.  He did this research at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.

A Embryonic human cloning has been developed by Jerry Hall and Dr. Robert Stillman

1 First a two cell embryo is separated into two cells after removing the zone pellucinda, an outer coating essential for development which I think functions both as physical protection for the delicate embryo as well as initial nutrition before implantation.

2 The removed zone pellucinda is replaced with a seaweed derived gel Jerry Hall had developed.

3 The researcher repeated the procedure several times and was able to generate three to four cloned embryos from a single original.

B Adult cloning

1 John Gurdon and Marie Di Beradino did early work here.

2 Landrum B. Shettles, M.D.,Ph.D..- cloned a human spermatogonium cell to the gastrula stage at which time it is ready for uterine implantation. This procedure, photographically recorded in his article, proves that adult humans can be cloned

3 Cloning is necessary to prevent tissue rejection -Paul Segall, Ph.D.

II Body transplantation has been relatively successful in monkeys -Robert White, M.D., Ph.D.

( Early work has been done by V.P. Demikov and K. Terao.)

A It involves the connection of one carotid artery and jugular vein at a time [there are two of each] from body to body to prevent loss of blood to the brain and provide an uninterrupted supply of oxygenated blood.

B Mechanical control of respiration circulation and arterial pressure is crucial.

C Microsurgical suturing of the entire vasculature is a major issue. [This will require prolonged periods of surgery with the use of particularly advanced magnification imaging and profound hypothermic arrest to allow for the time needed.]

D Neurological reconnection of the spinal column is important.

Spinal neuronal transmission is almost entirely axonal spinal chord transmission may only require bridging "gap junctions" to allow the electrical signal to Jump across the separation at the site of spinal dissection.

A detailed description of neuroregenerative research techniques can be reached here.

Note: Regeneration of the central nervous system's spinal column may be impossible with the current state of knowledge and technology. A better chance of neural regeneration may be at the peripheral nervous system's 32 nerves. This would require a highly involved operation in which both the original brain and its spinal column are transplanted together. Earlier Russian work on brain transplantation (in dogs, not monkeys) involved this entire central nervous system approach which may more easily preserved more upper body

motor functioning.

1 Evidence with Parkinson's patients and other neurodegenerative disease reversals].

2 Nerve growth factors may also help re-heal the severed spinal column.

3 Liquid collagen combined with omentum from the stomach with fetal cells

surrounding the omentum has proven useful for neurological regeneration as well.

4 differentiation into nerve cells for neuroregeneration A simple experiment could confirm or refute this possibility by growing adult embryological clonal cells in large numbers via the techniques of Landrum Shettles and Hall, Stillman.

5 Cytoplasmic similarity is also important for a better cloning result.

a) The transformation of embryonic cells to their neighbors itself illustrates the profound effect of signal transduction i.e. intercellular messages (by G proteins) can direct undifferentiated cells in their direction of development.

b) All cytoplasm embryonically is maternal. Postadolescent women can harvest their own unfertilized eggs by laproscopy. Even after menopause some eggs can be surgically removed by laproscopy because not all eggs are used during a woman's ovulating phase of life. Men can receive their cytoplasmic heritage through their mother. If the mother is dead or uncooperative, men may be without a cytoplasmic source unless a sister is available. One's own daughter's cytoplasm comes from the man's mate. Only a biological female sibling (sister) will work.

6 The study of neural plasticity from embryological to neurological development at fetal, juvenile and adult stages holds the most promise in solving the riddle of differentiation.

a) The endocrinology above is of primary importance

b) Secondarily, the signal transduction potential of mitochondria should be investigated (if it hasn't been yet)

c) Various invertebrate substances allow for their own complete neuroregeneration:

The isolation, purification, understanding and application of these metabolic regulatory factors may help neuroregenerative ability in the future. Such work could start with echinoderms such as starfish and the Western blot protein characterization as well as its DNA exon coding sequence. A zoo blot and in situ hybridization of this DNA can be matched to human genomic positions. The potential variation of neuroregenerative nerve growth factors can also be tested for above at various stages of embryology.

E To prepare the human body clone for reception of one's current brain, one would need to remove the telencephalon [the fetal beginnings of the higher brain functions] at 6 weeks of gestation (Paul Segall, Ph.D.)

1 The rapid growth of a body clone beyond ordinary annual growth would require the use of growth factors, supernutrient feeding and hormones

2 Electrical stimulation of the muscles would be necessary to prevent atrophy through lack of use.

F These body clones could then be stored in liquid nitrogen until they are needed.

1 Vitrification and other cryoprotectants such as glycerol or freezing under 2000 ATMs to produce "shrunken ice (known as Ice III) which does not cause damage due to crystallization can be used in the safe storage of such body clones

2 Hypothermia and blood replacement leading to cryogenic suspension of a dying individual who has not had a body clone prepared yet can be done to allow for the time needed to grow such a body clone

3 The relevant spermatogonium or oogonium sample needed to start the cloning process would need to be extracted before the cryogenic suspension of the patient

4 During the cloning process it is important to separate a good supply of undifferentiated embryonic cells before further development to use as a critical element of reattaching the spinal column (or more importantly the peripheral nerves which would require many more embryonic or fetal cells) when the body transplantation has been otherwise completed

G Long term technical consideration to indefinitely extend human life:

1 Periodic neuroregeneration of the transplanted spinal chord and one's brain will be necessary to compensate for neural cell death, Both the spinal column and brain are irreplaceable based on current technology. The brain which contains one's entire personality will always be irreplaceable.

2 Replicant fading of clonal cells needs to be averted by

i) Cloning from original fetal cells as much and as long as possible.

ii) Eventually nanotechnological micromachines may be able to check genetic codes for accuracy. The codes for each person would need to be sequenced for these nanometric machines to check against. Every individual's genome would then need to be sequenced by a highly advanced pulsed field gel electrophoresis of entire chromosomes. Duplicate sequencing would be necessary to check for automated mistakes

III Bioethics

A Legal issues

1 Status of clonus versus conceptus- Is the cloned tissue a part of the original person [property] or a separate entity?

2 Legality-

i) Regardless of the former issue, it seems that if a person's rights begin at birth or at least viability as determined by Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases, a six week old cloned fetus can be operated on to remove its telencephalon because it is not viable yet.

ii) Since death is measured by the lack of electroencephalogram [EEG] activity or brain death, it would seem that a legal definition of life should conform to the same standard. Life would then require the beginning of EEG activity which would be prevented by the telencephalon removal.

a) Ultimately the legality in the United States of body clones as advocated by Dr. Paul Segall and body transplantation as researched by Dr. Robert White will be determined by a majority vote.

b) Legal precedents on fetal tissue transplantation have already been favorable in Mexico and Sweden. Supportive rulings on anencephalic babies have already been made in Germany, Canada and to some extent the U.S.

B Philosophical issue- When does human personhood and rights begin?

The banking of self in body clones can be likened to the banking of one's own blood which is becoming fairly common practice today.

C Religious perspective- Many ministers and priests welcome life extension if it does not purpose answers to absolute truth and infinity

IV Society

A The knowledge base of society dwindles with the death of its most experienced and educated citizens. Long term projects such as discoveries of genetic cures, a grand unified theory or a controlled fusion reaction could be more easily solved if researchers who cannot fully transmit their insights to the next generation no longer can make progress.

B Affordability and access- with massive demand that should result, the procedure should quickly become mainstream and fall in price.

1 Biotech company competition for cloning [which is already a fairly simple process] and surgical competition for patients should keep the price low as long as the government does not try to regulate the law of supply and demand {which is one law that can not be legislated}.

2 Commercial agricultural applications in mass production of the best livestock will add to the streamlining of the technology

3 It is cheaper to supply people's bodies with guaranteed matches then to use dialysis or other bionic parts or play the roulette of donated organs in terms of availability and compatibility.

C May enhance people's prospects for hope in the future- Those who fell "there is no way out" of their apparently dismal situation in life may feel less hopeless if there is more time to correct things.- the protection of one's current life by partial body transplants of organs increases one's quality of life.

D May promote a commitment to long term projects- as people see they may themselves directly benefit from the project mentioned above, their commitment to these projects will likely increase their funding through Congress, other countries, corporations and private foundations.-

Self interest is a strong motivation. Those who will see the future themselves will want to improve the future. Extending human use to ocean floors and the routine use of deserts, tundra and mountains as well as asteroids, moons, Mars, space stations and eventually interstellar trips will become more likely.

V The next stage - human genetic engineering

A The genetic altering of the human DNA code to improve on the species' weaknesses was called "algeny" or genetic alchemy by Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg, an early proponent of the idea.  Today, as it is slowly incorporated into medical practice it is referred to as "gene therapy".

B With more elaborate knowledge from the results of the Human Genome Project of NIH and HuGO, we may be able to genetically increase the capacity for embryological development especially of the brain by altering the protooncogenes that restrain this development (once these protooncogenes are determined and located).

1 Such engineering should be undertaken with caution and serious reflection if done.

2 Animal experimentation with related mammals such as Rhesus monkeys or, even better, chimpanzees would be desirable.

3 The amazing discovery of the basic body plan genes that are held in common apparently by all members of the animal kingdom (that have been genetically tested so far) is a breathtaking first step in getting the basic outline of genetic relationships between species. In the distant future the genomes of many different mammals, reptiles, birds, etc. may have been sequenced and comparative genetic analysis performed.  At this point the possibility of transgenic improvements in Homo sapiens are possible.  Various sensory apparati such as the eye of an Eagle, the ear of a Tiger and the nose of a Cougar could be possible.  Some Transhumanists suggest such a species, our successor, be called Homo excelsior.

• A developmental biology Professor hosts a very informative web site about these body plan genes that all animals have in common.

C Currently alive humans could also benefit from some biological improvements such as increased brain capacity without the benefit (or need or possibility) for genetic engineering.

1 Artificial skulls probably made out of a protein based plastic compound could000 be constructed to increase the cranial cubic centimeters for brain development and the "extra space" can be bathed in a viscous fluid similar to the neurotransmitter liquid it resides in.

2 increased brain size is caused by injections of embryonic tissue from one's clonal copy.

a) The clonal recipient body is enlarged in size compared to the original you by growth hormone therapy.

b) This increased clonal recipient size, then, allows for a naturally increased cranium to accommodate the artificially induced neurodevelopment of one's original (and only) brain.

E "Artificial Life" , what is life?

1 a complex adaptive system: information rich, recombines/replicates/evolves, derives order from chaoes (open thermodynamics)

• Focus on biological minds as primary -

Nanotechnology (advocated by Drexler) can be used to improve human life as is, unaltered.  It could be used as NanoMedicine which could extend well beyond the genetic engineering/ gene therapy schema of today's clinical research into atomic engineering/ molecular reconstruction of damaged tissue.  Tissue regeneration by cloning and trophic factors would be potentially superceded.  The nanotechnologist could remove frostbite (cellular damage due to crystalization especially of liquids like blood and water) from cryonic suspendees so that whatever other ailments could then be fixed by the assemblers or other medical advances then available.
• Focus on nonbiological minds as primary -

Mind uploading (advocated by Moravec) is a far more theoretical and speculative possibility in which the information content of the brain (and its associated consciousness) is transferred from the neural-organic substrate of the brain to a "neural network" computer microchip design.  The microchip may be organic (carbon-based) instead of silicon-based.

c) study of the two types of information storage are geneticis and cybernetics

d) Compromise: Use both approaches.  Enhance the biological with neural implants or interfaces that convert between the two information storage systems much like a modem does between the signal of the computer and that of telephone wires (which are obviated by fiber optics or satelite transmission incidentally)

• Neural implants could augment memory and computing capacity while allowing for the parallel processing and intuitive cognition of the brain.

F Cryonics (originated by Ettinger) primarily needs to work on the neurocryopresrvation of the brain's informational structure since this is the essence of individual identity. The rest of the body can be cloned from a body double from his own skin cells or other stored cells from his body.  Fully reversable cryonics or cryostasis is also very useful in interstellar migrations that may be likely in the late 21st century.

G The Omega Point Hypothesis is that life will spread across the universe until all matter participates in conscious self awareness.  The interstellar migrations will be a new start for this cosmic process.

bibliography (including articles referenced elsewhere on the FTT home page)

Backlund, Erik-Olof et al. "Towards a Transplantation Therapy in Parkinson's Disease, A Progress Report from Continuing Clinical Experiments" Cell and Tissue Transplantation into the Adult Brain New York Academy of Sciences 1987 Vol. 495 pp. 658-686

Bahr, Robert "A New Ethical Question- Head Transplants?" Science Digest May, 1977 page 76

Beauchamp, Tom L. and LeRoy Walters "Anencephalic Donors: Separate the Dead from the Dying" Contemporary Issues in Bioethics Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, CA 1989 page 542

Chee, Mark et al. "Accessing Genetic Information with High-Density DNA Arrays" Science Vol. 274 October 25, 1996

Couturer, Larry A. and Dan T. Stinchcomb "Anti-gene therapy: the use of ribozymes to inhibit gene function" TIG Vol. 12 No. 12 December 1996

Ducat, Craig R. and Harold W. Chase "Substantive Due Process" in Constitutional Interpretation, Rights of the Individual West Publishing Company New York 1974 & 1992 pp. 556-588

Elmer-Dewitt, Philip "Cloning: Where Do We Draw the Line?" Time, Time, Inc. New York Vol. 142 No. 19 November 8, 1993

Elmer-Dewitt, Philip "The Genetic Revolution: New technology enables us to improve on nature. How far should we go?" Time Time, Inc., New York Vol. 143, No.3 January 17, 1994 pp. 46-56

Fletcher, Joseph "Ethical Aspects of Genetic Controls" New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 285 September 30, 1971

Fletcher, Joseph "The Cognitive Criterion of Humanhood" Hastings Center Report Vol. 4 December, 1975

Green, R. "Tinkering with the Secrets of Life" Health January 1990 Vol. 22

Harrington, John J. et al. "Formation of de novo centromeres and construction of first-generation human artificial microchromosomes" Nature Genetics Vol. 15 April, 1997

Kahn, Carol "Doubletakes" Omni Omni Publications International, Ltd. New York Vol. 11 No. 1 October, 1988 page 58

Lederberg, Joshua, Ph.D. "Experimental Genetics and Human Evolution" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists October 1966 Vol. 23

Lederberg, Seymour "Law and Cloning" in Genetics and the Law page 377

Rorvik, David Michael As Man Becomes Machine, The Evolution of the Cyborg Doubleday & Company, Inc. Garden City, New York 1971

Rorvik, David Michael In His Image, the Cloning of a Man Hamish Hamilton, London 1978

Thomas, L. "On Cloning a Human Being" New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 291 page 1296

Segall, Paul, Ph.D. and Carol Kahn Living Longer, Growing Younger Random House New York 1989

Shettles, Landrum B. "Diploid Nuclear Replacement in Mature Human Ova with Cleavage" American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1979

Smolan, Rick, Phillip Moffitt and Matthew Naythons, M.D. The Power to Heal Prentice Hall Press New York 1990 page 174

White, Robert J., M.D., Ph.D. "Brain Transplantation" Surgical Neurology Vol. 23 1985 page 449

White, Robert J., M.D., Ph.D. "Cephalic exchange transplantation in the monkey" Surgery July, 1971 Vol. 70 pp. 135-139

White, Robert J., M.D., Ph.D. "Modifications in primate cerebral and electrical activity with profound hypothermia" Cryobiology October 1972 Vol. 9 pp. 383-392

White, Robert J., M.D., Ph.D. "Primate cephalic transplantation: neurogenic separation, vascular association" Transplantation Proceedings March 1971 Vol. 3 pp. 602-604

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