I'm not sure if this is right for debate so I'll post this here. If I'm wrong, I know a wonderful mod will put it in the right section

Doctors are going attempt a radical new surgery: a total face transplant. They're going to take the face of a dead person and put it on the face of someone (as of yet not selected) whose face was horribly disfigured in some accident. You can read the article here.

When I saw this I was like "Holy crap" and actually felt a little sick to my stomach. Is the desire to look nice worth risking your life? And then the whole thing about it being the face of a dead person... I think that's effed up.

What do you guys think?

Ehhh...someone walking around with my face after I'm dead...

No thanks. One person wearing this ugly thing is enough. ;)

I doubt they JUSt gonna sew it on, they prollies gonna operate it, considering you can't just placed a dead person's face on another one.
AND I'm SURE some of you guys look wonderfuly beautiful and all, but some people just aren't as lucky!
I've read this girl who got hit by and drunk driver, she survived but she look like an alien (I'm not being mean, but that's the only word i can describe her face, she is completely defigured)

-shrugs- some peoples might think this is a livesaver

I concur.

i just think thats morallly wrong. ugh...dead people?!!

it is disturbing, but think of it this way, what if someone really disfigured from an accident really needs a face transplant i mean yeah it'll be freaky to be wearing someone else's face and there are always what if's. but i guess it can be a good thing (i think) for someone who really needs it

You know, if you actually read the article, you might understand how it all goes.

it is disturbing, but think of it this way, if you actually read the prior posts, then you would have realized we established that point already

People have to stop trying to be something they're not. If you're not freaking original enough to make your own face, you deserve to be ugly.

If I ever transplant my face, I’ll be haunted by the spirit over a face.


I think it's a horrible idea to have a face transplant.
Even if you have a horrible face, it can be fixed.
Well, at least it’s better than your old face.

AGAIN.

IT ISN'T FOR UGLY PEOPLE. IT'S FOR BADLY BADLY BADLY DISFIGURED PEOPLE WHO ARE NO LONGER UGLY, BUT NOW ARE JUST SCARY.

WELL... I mean. In the strictest sense, disfigured people are "ugly" by definition. You hardly go, "wow, that disfigured person is really pretty". And I don't think disfiguration is scary much. It's tragic and unattractive... but scary? Nah.

That aside, I STILL don't see the point in stealing someone else's face. If we have the techniques to paste on someone's face on another person, we have the technique to build a new one.

edit: Oooo, I just read your old post. They wouldn't look the same, eh? You see.. that just changes everything. How misleading.

But my ugly=disfigured comment still stands.

No, building a new face is completely different from using an existing one. Where are you going to get all the skin and tissue it would take to build a new face? How are you going to shape it so there are no seams or scars? How are you going to build nerves so lips and eyelids function properly? All this is much harder to do than using an existing face.

The doctor's also aren't "stealing" someone else's face--the face was donated, just like an organ.

First of all.... you're taking "stealing" out of context. I meant stealing as in imitation, not theft. Secondly, I wasn't aware it wasn't in image-likeness. Last... you really think a face transplant wil result in no seams or scars? -_-;;

Well I didn't mean to be rude or anything, I was a bit frustrated. The part where you said "if you're not freaking original enough" put me off a bit, because they probably don't to be original, just normal-looking enough.

It depends how you define scary, of course. Children get scared. I got scared by a stupid Halloween mask when I was a kid. A victim of extreme burns does look shocking, though. Maybe not scary to some, but certainly shocking.

Maybe a thin mark around the outer edge, but nothing like completely building a new face from skin grafts.

Yea yea... I just felt I had to defend myself. Again, I didn't know they wouldn't look exactly alike. My apologies for missing that part.

If a face was built from existing skin grafts, it would be extremely difficult to find parts that would match each other well. You might end up looking like one of those collages of different parts of the face kids make in art class. If an entire face is used, then it is more whole and natural looking, without the mouth looking out of place and yeah.

You know, a transplant is rarely perfect. It's a risk in itself.



Granted, it's easier to use a whole face, but you can't say it'll be near flawless. (to mipadi)

I'm sorry, I don't recall saying it was nearly flawless. Probably because I didn't.

That seems pretty near flawless to me.

Nothing's flawless.

Right, but had you read what I wrote, I was comparing the growth of scar tissue between a face transplant and the (theoretical) use of skin grafts to build a new face. I didn't say anything about infection or rejection by the body, which is an issue with any transplant.

everytime i read the article i cringe. i wouldn't want to do that to myself

I saw it on Discovery Health Channel. They concluded that friends and family members of the face donor will not recognize their beloved's face on the patient. This is because of the differences in bone structure. The face may have similar qualities, but it will more likely be a combination of both the patient's original face and the cadaver's. This will, thus, create a new person.

Yes, the idea of using one person's face on someone else's is a bit unethical. However, so were heart transplants. People got over that pretty quickly.

Also, scars WILL exist, but not on the donated tissue, only on the patient. Theoretically, the entire face will be attatched, therefore scars would be along the hairline, ears, and under the neck.

And, when you really think about it, if you were living without a face for half your life, I don't think you'd care if you had scars. You'd be so ecstatic about being able to go out in public and not be stared for being different.

I think they should go ahead with it.

Rin-chan

Please... you didn't say anything about the growth of scar tissue. If you infer something, we're suppoed to read your mind? Comparitavely speaking, [to me] the two are just alternatives to each other. I don't necessarily believe one's better than the other. It's my opinion. I'm sorry if it disagrees with yours, but hey. Thats life.