Cleveland

From: nu-monet <nothing@succeeds.com>
Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2001 08:34:34 -0700

A controversial operation to transplant the whole head
of a monkey onto a body of an otherwise healthy young
man has proved a partial success. The scientist behind
it wants to do the same thing to other humans, but other
members of the scientific community have condemned the
experiments as "grotesque", and the experimenter as a
"madman."

Professor Robert "Bob" Bobbhead, from Cleveland Ohio,
transplanted a whole monkey's head onto the young man's
body, and the resultant creature survived for some years
after the operation.

The professor told the BBC's Today programme how he
believes the operation is the next step in the transplant
world.

And he raised the possibility that it could be used to
treat monkeys paralysed and unable to use their limbs,
and whose bodies, rather than their brains, were diseased.

"Monkeys are dying today who, if they had human body
transplants, would remain alive, perhaps even physically
stronger, or more sexually capable."

He said that in the experiment, his team had been able to:
"transplant the brain as a separate organ into an intact
human and maintain it in a viable, or living situation for
many years."

He added: "We've been able to retain the brain in the skull,
and in the head. We had been afraid that it would leak out
somehow."

That, he said meant the monkey was conscious, and that it
could see, hear, taste, smell and use its more powerful
human body to exact revenge on its enemies.

He admitted that it could appear "grotesque", but said
there had been ethical considerations throughout the
history of organ transplants.

"At each stage - kidney, heart, liver and so forth - ethical
considerations have been considered, especially with the
heart, which was a major, major problem for many people and
scientists, though it is merely a pump."

"And the brain, because of its uniqueness poses a major,
major ethical issue as far as the public and even the
profession is concerned. But they are foolish old men with
stagnant ideas--unable to recognize true genius when they
see it."

"Soon there will be entire nations of human-bodied monkey
heads running around, and by then it will be too late."

--
"There is no nu-monet. There is only Zuul."

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Original file name: Cleveland - converted on Friday, 29 June 2001, 22:34