A group of scientist, standing beside an operating table, machines chirping and ventilators pumping. Slowly a doctor sinks a long needle, filled with cells and chemicals, into the brain-stem of a brain-dead patient, with the hopes of reactivating their brain and bring them back to life. No, it’s not a scene out of Frankenstein. It will soon be a reality.
Bioquark, a U.S. biotech company, has been granted permission by a review board to begin human trials in both the U.S. and and India. The company will start with 20 brain-dead patients for their highly controversial study, known as the ReAnima project, beginning next year.
Dr. Calixto Machado, a member of the American Academy of Neurology, is a well known neurological researcher, will be one of the doctors on the team. Their “subjects” have all been medically certified as being brain dead, meaning that the only thing keeping their bodies alive are life support machines. Their spinal cords will be injected with stem cells, infusions of chemicals, and will have nerve stimulation procedures. The patients will then be monitored in between procedures over several months in hopes that the subjects’ brain might begin to rebuild itself. The first trials will begin at Anupam Hospital in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand in India.
ReAnima’s goal for the first round of testing will be to reactivate patients’ basic biological functions, such as breathing without the use of machines, ect…
To undertake such a complex initiative, we are combining biological regenerative medicine tools with other existing medical devices typically used for stimulation of the central nervous system, in patients with other severe disorders of consciousness,” Bioquark’s CEO Ira Pastor stated in a recent interview with the Telegraph. “We hope to see results within the first two and three months.
It would be a huge leap in science to be able to revive patients who have lost all brain function. But I can’t help but wonder what patients’ quality of life might have.
So, what is your opinion on this? Is this how the zombie apocalypse begins?
Sources: The Business Insider, Daily Telegraph, Bioquark
