Scientists prepare to turn fiction into fact with first full-face transpla

(the last word is transplant)

US scientists are preparing to perform the world's first full-face transplant. The 24-hour operation involves lifting an entire face from a dead donor - including nose cartilage, nerves and muscles - and transferring them to someone hideously disfigured by burns or other injuries.

A team at the University of Louisville in Kentucky has submitted a 30-page request to the university's ethics committee, New Scientist reports today.

Peter Butler, a surgeon at London's Royal Free Hospital, called for a debate on the procedure in 2002. The Royal College of Surgeons urged caution and decided last year that, for the time being, the risks outweighed the possible benefits.

But John Barker, leader of the Louisville team, told New Scientist: "Caution by itself will not get us any closer. If Christopher Columbus were cautious, I'd probably be speaking with a British accent."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1225537,00.html

disfigured when his father set a fire. This would be a wonderful thing for someone like him.