Bioquark is about to begin a trial that will try to bring brain-death patients back to life using stem cells. The controversial research raises numerous scientific and ethical questions that attract many experts in the field. Everything indicates that scientists are setting ever higher goals when it comes to the human body - first the world's first human head transplant, then the fight against aging, and now the complete abolition of death. Yes, you read that right. A company called Bioquark decided to bring clinically dead people back to life. The Philadelphia Biotechnology Company is expected to launch the project later this year.
The test was originally planned for 2016 in India, but was not allowed. Assuming the plan remains the same, the scientists will take 20 patients who will undergo various treatments. First, there will be an injection of stem cells, which will be isolated from the patient's own blood or fat. Then a protein mixture will be injected into the spinal cord, which will stimulate the growth of new neurons. Laser therapy and nerve stimulation will be given for 15 days to induce neurons to form connections. In the meantime, scientists will monitor behavior and EEG for treatment-induced changes.
Despite the fact that every step in this process will be scientifically substantiated, the overall objective remains unsubstantiated. Electrical stimulation of the median nerve has been conducted, but most of the evidence exists in the form of case studies. Dr. Ed Cooper has described dozens of such cases and notes that the method may have partial success in some comatose patients. But coma and brain death are different things, and the Bioquark process raises more questions than it answers.
One of the problems that scientists find with this study is informed consent. How can a test participant agree and how scientists will sign their papers - given that the participants are legally dead - how, then, to definitively confirm brain death? What happens if brain activity is partially restored? What will the patient's mental state be? Can the brain be damaged even more?
In 2016, neuroscientist Ariana Lewis and bioethicist Arthur Kaplan wrote that this test is "dubious", "has no scientific basis" and "at best ethically controversial, and at worst is frankly unethical." Dr. Cooper also doubts Bioquark's methods and does not believe they will help a brain dead patient. This method assumes the presence of a functional brain stem - the structure through which motor neurons travel before properly connecting to the cortex. If there is no functional brain stem, nothing will work.
Pediatric surgeon Charles Cox, who is not involved with Bioquark, agrees with Cooper: “It's not the craziest thing I've ever heard, but I think the probability of success is close to zero. I think resurrecting someone will technically be a miracle."
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