Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

World's First Double-Arm Transplant

Posted by michael on from the leg-up-on-the-competition dept.

quakeslut writes "The BBC has the scoop on the first double-arm transplant. Amazingly, after only two weeks or so, the recipient says that it already feels "as if these are my own hands." Please, keep the "give that guy a hand, or two!!" jokes to a minimum."

22 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. ha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    As I'm looking at this, the advertisement shows a dude typing with his keyboard resting at a painful painful angle on his lap (it's propped up by the edge of the table), and all I can say,
    "Boy is that guy gonna' need a hand transplant 5-10 years from now..."

    Carpel tunnel is no picnic, people, but at least now I can be like my grandfather, who till the last days before he died of lung cancer insisted that the burgeoning pace of technology would give a cure for cancer long before he died of smoking.

    Um, yeah.

  2. Sweet by Lshmael · · Score: 2, Funny

    Double-arm transplants...what's next? Legs? Torsos? Heads in a Jar?

    If he weren't dead, I'd steal Bruce Lee's arms.

    WOH-PAH!

    1. Re:Sweet by jcenters · · Score: 5, Funny

      What do you mean if he weren't dead? With today's technology?

      1. Find Bruce Lee's dead corpse.

      2. Extract his DNA.

      3. Find a pig.

      4. Insert Lee's DNA into the pig.

      5. Wait a few months for the arms to grow.

      6. ???

      7. Profit!!

      --

      vi ~/.emacs

    2. Re:Sweet by umofomia · · Score: 3, Informative
      1. Find Bruce Lee's dead corpse.
      I'll tell you how to get there... :)

      Lakeview Cemetery
      1554 15th. Ave. E
      Seattle, WA

      Take the #10 bus from downtown Seattle, you can catch it going west on Madison St., north on 1st Ave, then east on Pike at 4th and 6th, and east at 9th and Pine St. Take this bus to the end of the line, about a 15-20 minute ride. You will pass the cemetery just before the last stop. Enter through the main gate and proceed straight ahead, up the hill. You will see a flag pole to your left,near the top of the hill. The grave is about 50 ft. north and a little east of the flag pole. Look for two 4 ft. side-by-side head stones with a small bench in front of them. Bus service is very frequent on all days except sundays.

  3. How much did those cost? by Mick+D. · · Score: 3, Funny

    I hope they didn't charge an arm and a leg for those, or he is still gonna be missing a limb. :)

    --

    Is this the end yet?...How 'bout now...how 'bout now...how 'bout now?
    1. Re:How much did those cost? by metlin · · Score: 1

      I hope they didn't charge an arm and a leg for those, or he is still gonna be missing a limb. :)

      Or two :-p

  4. Well by RaboKrabekian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Gives new meaning to the Stranger technique.

    Ok, so that's pretty gross, sorry.

    --
    "Moderate drinking can help prevent amputated limbs" -- Abigail Zuger, NYTimes, 12/31/02
  5. Finally! by seinman · · Score: 1

    Rick Allen finally has something to look forward to!

  6. Zaphod, by belbo · · Score: 4, Funny

    is that you?

    *SCNR*

    --

    --
    "Just believe everything I tell you, and it will all be very, very simple."

  7. I can see.. by Tuxinatorium · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can see that the prewar Arms Race has already begun!

    --
    Repeal the DMCA!
    1. Re:I can see.. by PD · · Score: 1

      Up until just now, I hadn't thought of the possibility of adding arms and legs, in addition to the ones I already have, but this is exactly what I need to not only keep up with the Jones', but to completely surpass those bastards.

      --
      If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
  8. whole body transplant by falsification · · Score: 2, Insightful
    We're getting close to the point where most of the body can be transplanted. We already have seen face transplants, skin transplants, hair transplants (?), cornea transplants, arm transplants (and thus, presumably leg transplants), internal organ transplants, etc.

    The brain is just about all that's left.

    1. Re:whole body transplant by pauljlucas · · Score: 2, Insightful
      The brain is just about all that's left.
      But it's not just another body part since it's where the essense of the individual resides. A "brain transplant" is really a "whole body transplant" since the person is tied to the brain, i.e., the brain (and the person) gets a new body, not the body gets a new brain.

      To have a real "brain transplant" would require that one's memories, neural patterns, etc, be transferred to the new brain. However, since the way a person is is tied to the way neurons are physically connected, transfer would be impossible snce the entire new brain would have to be "rewired." It would probably be easier to "grow" a new brain cloning the original structure. Even so, this is many years off.

      --
      If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
    2. Re:whole body transplant by Gryftir · · Score: 1

      Robert A. Heinlein wrote a book called I Will Fear No Evil about a brain transplant. However this story when finished might be more accurate.

      --
      http://www.santacruzbynight.com/index.shtml Santa Cruz By Night Vampire Larp
  9. His own hands.? by RandomInAction · · Score: 1

    Me hinks the reference is not about having feeling or control over them. [His hands.] Rather that he feels the appendages are part of him, even if lifeless and numb. So far transplants of this kind have failed; yes the flesh can live, but never connects with the mind. One might as well sew a steak too your ass.

  10. Don't take your organs to heaven.... by Cryacin · · Score: 1

    I have this on good word from the world organ donor organisation. Brain donor rejection list: George Bush (American President) Reason for rejection: Brain size too small. Has survived by process sharing with entities such as oil conglomerates, the senate, his father, his wife, and his dog. John Howard (Australian Prime Minister) Reason for rejection: doesn't have his own, uses George Bush's for all policy decisions. Tony Blair (English PM) He's English... no more said. The blood hound gang You mean we want more sick depraved individuals floating around the world? Osama Bin Laden/Saddam Hussein Yeah right, as if there will be anything left when they die!!!

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    1. Re:Don't take your organs to heaven.... by DeanAsh · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding? Politician brains should fetch a good price as they tend to have very low mileage, so to speak ;)

      --
      What is the shortest sig that cannot be expressed in fewer than 20 words?
    2. Re:Don't take your organs to heaven.... by Cryacin · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but only because they charge by the pound! Gotta kill a lot you see...

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
  11. The Stranger by metamatic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You can try using your left hand, sure. Unfortunately, that whole "if you use your left hand it feels like someone else is doing it" thing is about as medically accurate as the one about hairy palms.

    From which we deduce that anyone seriously suggesting "use your left hand, it feels like someone else is doing it", has never actually had someone else do it.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  12. Must....resist....bad....jokes....! by mechugena · · Score: 1, Funny

    Hands down, the best article I've read in weeks. It's a sad, disarming tale of what happened to permit this to happen.

  13. phantom pains? by Mantorp · · Score: 1
    "Raimund Magreiter, the head of the surgery department at the clinic, said at the moment Jamnig was suffering from phantom pains in the new limbs but that it was normal."

    Since the arms are now attached aren't the phantom pains just pains now?

  14. applause by buzzsport · · Score: 1

    Ouch.