We all know that when your brain dies, you die. Without a blood supply, your brain cells start dying off rapidly in around six minutes. Then there’s an irreversible loss of all neurological function in the brain and brain stem. No sign of life, no coming back, sign the death certificate. At least, that’s what’s supposed to happen. This year, scientists from Yale School of Medicine created the biggest commotion about brain reanimation since Mary Shelley when they reported that they’d revived the brains of 32 pigs four hours after they been slaughtered. Brains, it seemed, could be brought back to life. The researchers hooked up the ‘dead’ organs to a system that infused them with a blood substitute called BrainEx, which promotes cell recovery after oxygen deprivation. The scientists found that BrainEx helped maintain the brain’s internal structure and rebooted some brain cell functions such as the ability to produce energy and remove waste. Perhaps most remarkably, they found that electrical activity between brain cells restarted. There was no sign of coordinated signals - certainly no indication of consciousness — but on the other hand the chemicals fed into the brain had been formulated to head off that possibility.
With parallel research galloping ahead on cultured mini-brains and with Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero claiming he’s ready to conduct the first human head transplant, there’ll be no shortage of Frankenstein headlines in the 2020s. It’s now a question of where and when the ethicists and regulators start drawing new lines.
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