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Getting More Face Time
ApharmdB writes "The BBC has a story about the possibility of performing face transplants within the year. Obviously, people are worried about the ethical ramifications, but would someone with your transplanted face actually look like you? Either way, everyone better be careful, or Nicolas Cage may try to steal their family."
This would go great in conjunction with growing human organs and tissue from human DNA.
Imagine having a backup of your own face, just in case you get into a facially disfiguring accident. Instantly, you have your "old" face back.
From the article:
So what happens if your body rejects your face?!?
My Greasemonkey scripts for Digg &
it's the bone that shapes your face for the most part. That's why they can make those clay facial recreations when they find an unidentified skeleton. And that's also why Face/Off was so ridiculous...
There are a couple issues that come to mind rather quickly--
The first being that I believe they may be able to start trying to do this in a year but it would take time to get it to work. And I would hate to see what the failures will look like. I would think that rejection would be a major issue. And the bottom line is they've never done this before- there will be bugs to work out.
The second- is what if they could do the whole deal perfectly? What if you could have some dead persons face?
I picture someone walking in a mall and they see their son who committed suicide a bit back walking by. Or bumping into a lost spouse.
This is a much less than ideal solution. I'm not saying they shouldn't do it- but it does need to be really thought out.
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It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Eddie Murphy did an SNL skit on face transplants that was pretty funny. IIRC, it was like a pitch to encourage people to donate their face, and they had an interview with a white woman who had received a black face. It was a riot at the time... not sure how well it would hold up.
OK, so science fiction becomes real life alot; but Eddie Murphy jokes? Too unreal.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Of all the reasons to have a transplant, getting a new face might be the stupidest one I've ever heard.
Recently, doctors have begun experimental arm transplants for amputees. The first ever recipient had to have the transplanted arm removed and has said on record that if he'd known then what he knows now, he would have decided against the transplant.
In addition to the risk of rejection, there's the very real danger caused by anti-rejection drugs which suppress the immune system. Scientists believe that immune-suppressing drugs that keep transplant recipients from rejecting their new organs or other items increase their risks of dying from infection significantly. I can't remember the exact statistic, but ISTR that a transplant recipient has something like a one in ten chance of dying within 7 years. Is it worth it to risk your life over a new face? I realize that patients with severe facial damage may want to take that risk, but overall, I'd say it's not worth the risk. Transplants should be reserved for life-saving operations, otherwise the risks are too high.
The issue of how close you'd look to the new face, and how much you'd retain of your old is one which has been discussed regarding a procedure of this level, and while there's a lot of character in the skin tone and fat/muscle distribution, the bony underneath of your skull does hold quite a lot of your features. Surgery on transsexuals to change facial features gives some stunning results - it's playing with the features we have most of our ability to recognise - the sex of a person judged by the face. Simply changing the eyebrow ridge from male to female shaped, and chin/jaw resculpting can drastically alter features, as much as any soft tissue.
For examples, see the photos at;
authentikate.com
cinematter.com
and
genderpeace.com
all who have had this facial feminisation surgery. This is not an example of surgery to make anyone particularly attractive by changing tiny features such as nose size, or a facelift, or lip-plumping, but drastic facial reconstruction, mainly only on the bony features.
Just some info.