Imagine watching TV without a screen or communicating with friends without a phone or facebook. Would you have an implant to have virtual sex with anyone you wanted -- or to be stronger or smarter? What's the status of the science? When do humans become obsolete?
It's not a matter of if, but rather when it's going to happen. We already know how to clone entire organisms -- for instance, our team has cloned herds of cows and even the first human embryos and endangered species (Science 294, 1893, 2001), we've reversed aging at the cellular level (Science 288, 665, 2000), and we've made progress growing replacement tissues for every organ system of the body, including the heart and kidney (Nature Biotechnology 20, 689, 2002). However, there's one organ that's a far greater challenge: the brain.
It's not a matter of if, but rather when it's going to happen. We already know how to clone entire organisms -- for instance, our team has cloned herds of cows and even the first human embryos and endangered species (Science 294, 1893, 2001), we've reversed aging at the cellular level (Science 288, 665, 2000), and we've made progress growing replacement tissues for every organ system of the body, including the heart and kidney (Nature Biotechnology 20, 689, 2002). However, there's one organ that's a far greater challenge: the brain.
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