Inspiration:

Josh, Dr. LaRocco, Saiket, and Ellery wondered why there wasn’t a way to transcend bodies for people with the world’s most physically debilitating diseases, high mortality cancer, and those who are almost aged out. They wanted to know what is being done to find the solution to save people.

There are incurable diseases, cancer, appearance change requests, and we biologically age without a cure.

Scientists are working on mechanical engineering human parts. However, no one has put the pieces together to hope to transfer and save people’s consciousness who are suffering into their own new biological body and brain.

Several machinery and material companies are bioprinting now such as Allevi, Cyfuse Biomedical, 3D Bioprinting Solutions, Aspect Biosystems, Materialise NV, Rokit, Stratasys, Medprins, and Formlabs. Additionally, there are multiple companies brain computer interfacing and brain preserving including DARPA Brain SyNAPSE program, EyeWire.org, Carboncopies Foundation, Openwater project, Kernel Co, 2045 Initiative, Neurosteer, Blue Brain Project, Alcor Cryonics, Brain Preservation Foundation, and Neuralink. Specifically, "DARPA, Kernel, and Neuralink are focusing on better brain implants (at least for now), rather than necessarily full body cyborgs or brain uploading."

However, no one has put the pieces together to hope to transfer and save people’s consciousness who are suffering or have the potential for mortality into new full body prosthetics.

“The uniquely exciting thing about our time in the arc of humanity is that we have these incredibly powerful tools of creation. Humanity has built tools, those tools have always defined us. So now if you take computer software, genomics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, robotics, biology we can literally program everything. Our entire existence. The most pressing question is, what kind of world do we want to build?” - Bryan Johnson

What it does:

For the mind, the hope is to transfer consciousness into new printed full body prosthetics with brains. To transfer, there are “3 possible routes: Gradual replacement of the brain by brain implant/tissue replacement, non-destructive emulation, and destructive emulation.” visit a concept plan at www.minduploadcenter.world. We must utilize the technology “Whole Brain Emulation"/Substrate-Independent Minds. For more on this, visit www.carboncopies.org (who are the only nonprofit raising awareness and doing R&D on this exact subject, Ray Kurzweil’s, “The Singularity”)

For the body, biomechanics is very complex.

Body by design. Use a brain-computer interface to communicate with the sensory organs and limbs of your new whole body prosthetic. The bci hardware “connects with the brain through some variation of noninvasive interfaces being developed by scientists around the world, from tiny sensors that could be injected into the brain to genetically engineered neurons that can exchange data wirelessly with a hatlike receiver. Extract brain tissue neuron for neuron and duplicate it with transitors so for every neuron we take out of our brain, we replace it with a transitor. Sooner or later chunks of our brain are removed and inserted transistor for transistor inside the bionic body. During the time, fully conscious during this process. Part of the brain computes human body and part of our brain computes in the bionic body connected by wires. After a few hours, large portions of the brain are gutted and huge chunks of transitors are added to the bionic body made of sillicon and steel. When it’s finished, you have no brain in your head and a bionic body with a complete brain and a complete body. Artificial intelligence will be integrated into synthetic organs, so they can operate independently. Sensor technology will allow you to feel the essence of human experience. Other next steps would be, as your brain matures, genetic engineering will combat the aging process. Advancements in nanotechnology will offer extensive tissue repair and regeneration, including the repair of individual brain cells.

Skin - “Producing small amounts of artificial skin to graft onto patients and use for toxicity testing has been possible for years. Human skin cells are cultivated in the lab and then embedded in a collagen scaffold. In 2011, the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology introduced a system that can rapidly manufacture two-layer artificial skin models. Their Tissue Factory has the capacity to make 5,000 skin sheets in a month.”

Ear - “Reproducing 3D biological structures, particularly the complex human ear, presents significant challenges for bioengineers. A team at Princeton University, led by Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Michael McAlpine, used 3D printing technology to make a functional ear from calf cells and electronic materials. The ear that debuted in May 2013 is not a simple replacement — it can pick up radio frequencies well beyond the range that human ears normally detect.”

Bladder - “Surgeon Anthony Atala directs the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and is known for growing new human cells, tissues and organs — particularly ones that advance urology. Atala and his team’s bioengineered bladders succeeded in clinical trials. The bladders were constructed from patients’ cells that were grown over two months on a biodegradable scaffold and then implanted. Patients included children with spina bifida who risked kidney failure. It’s been several years since then and the results are positive. “These constructs appear to be doing well as patients get older and grow,” Atala told The NIH Record.”

Blood Vessels - “Being able to make blood vessels in the lab from a patient’s own cells could mean better treatments for cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and diabetes. In 2011, the head of California-based Cytograft Tissue Engineering reported progress in a study where three end-stage kidney disease patients were implanted with blood vessels bioengineered in the lab. After eight months the grafts continued to work well, easing access to dialysis. Then, this month, a team at Massachusetts General Hospital found a way to bring mature vascular cells back to an early, stem-like state. They generated long-lasting blood vessels in living mice.”

Heart - “Artificial heart devices have been surgically implanted since the 1980s, but no device has been able to replace the human heart as effectively as a healthy biological one. After all, a human heart pumps 35 million times in a single year. Recently scientists have made advances in adding more biological material to artificial heart devices. In May the French company Carmat prepared to test an artificial device containing cow heart tissue. At Massachusetts General Hospital, surgeon Harald C. Ott and his team are working on a bioartificial heart scaffold while MIT researchers recently printed functional heart tissue from rodent cells.”

Liver - “Bioengineers are working on it, but the liver is one of the largest, most challenging organs to recreate. In 2010 bioengineers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center grew miniature livers in the lab using decellularized animal livers for the structure and human cells. This month, a team from the Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine published results of a study where they reprogrammed human adult skin cells, added other cell types, and got them to grow into early-stage liver “buds.” Currently the scientists can produce about 100 of them, but the study’s lead author Takanori Takebe told The Wall Street Journal that even a partial liver would require tens of thousands.”

Trachea - “In April, after an international team of surgeons spent nine hours operating on her at Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, 32-month old Hannah Warren became the youngest patient to ever receive a bioengineered organ. Scientists had made a windpipe for her using her own bone marrow cells. Born without a trachea, she needed help breathing, eating, drinking and talking. Harvard Bioscience created the custom scaffold and bioreactor for the experimental procedure. Sadly Hannah died on July 7 due to complications from a more recent surgery on her esophagus. Despite the high risks, bioengineers say they will continue to move ahead.“

Back Discs - “When a ruptured or degenerating disc causes chronic back pain, treatment is limited. At worst, patients undergo surgery to fuse vertebrae together and then have limited flexibility. Over the past several years artificial discs have emerged as an alternative, but they can wear out as they work. In 2011, a research team from Cornell University bioengineered implants using gel and collagen seeded with rat cells that were then successfully placed into rat spines. This summer Duke bioengineers took things further, coming up with a gel mixture they think can help regenerate tissue when injected into the space between discs.”

Intestines - “Little by little, bioengineered intestines are being grown in the lab to diagnose digestive disorders and to help patients born without a piece of intestine. In 2011, Cornell biological and environmental engineering assistant professor John March began collaborating with Pittsburgh-based pediatric surgeon David Hackam on a small artificial intestine using collagen and stem cells. Then last year in Switzerland, EPFL professor Martin Gijs led a project in the Laboratory of Microsystems to create a miniature intestinal wall from cultured epithelial cells and electronics called NutriChip to identify foods that cause inflammation. Scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute also made a “gut-on-a chip” to mimic the real thing using intestinal cells in a tiny silicon polymer device.“

Kidney - “One in 10 American adults will have some level of chronic kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently around 600,000 patients in the U.S. have chronic kidney failure. Most rely on dialysis while a fraction of them actually get transplants. Scientists from the University of California, San Francisco are on a mission to create a sophisticated artificial kidney device made with human kidney cells, silicon nanofilters and powered by blood pressure. The project, led by UCSF nephrologist William Fissell and bioengineering professor Shuvo Roy, aims to begin testing the kidney device in 2017.”

How it works:

-Artificial Organs (non-cardiopulmonary, meaning heart and lungs) There's been some cool advances in artificial organs, but due to patents and companies focusing on protecting them, little development of artificial organ systems. Even researchers typically get grants to focus on one organ at a time. However, as organ on a chip technology improves, I believe this will eventually change. Of course, you may not even need artificial organs if you can just transpose the ones you're born with. Remember my research paper on "Surgical Evaluation of a Full-Body Prosthetic?" The TARAUMA procedure there has already been tried successfully on a rat (at . The problem we encountered was the life support. Priority: Moderate Development: Depends on organ. Kidneys already deployed.

-Life Support (heart, lungs, circulation, temperature) This is the real killer (no pun intended). You need blood and nutrients to get to the brain and any remaining tissue, plus remove waste. We have had artificial hearts since the 1970s, but artificial lungs (as in devices that totally replace the lung) are dangerous and cumbersome. As I've stated, the current standard procedure for bypassing the heart and lungs is veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO). It has a ~50% mortality rate and ~40% of survivors have some form of brain damage. Not the ideal system. That's why my own efforts hinge on development of a better artificial lung. My German collaborators are interested in this topic. Now, you could even sidestep the artificial lung issue and use a mechanical ventilator, but it could be discomforting for the patient, plus an obvious critical point of failure. The ventilator and the vascular assistive device would also be very proven technologies. With a vascular assistive device (a pump to assist a weakened heart) and an artificial lung system (or mechanical ventilator), I think it's possible to keep transposed tissue alive in an artificial container. You also need to get rid of waste, maintain insulation for body heat, and seal up the gaps near the outside. Priority: VERY HIGH Development: Proven for decades (true artificial lungs still in development, but ventilators proven for a century)

-Brain Computer Interface (controlling the artificial body with the brain) The reason I listed this later is brain computer interface/BCI is actually a technology used for decades. Best of all, it can be non-invasive. You know electroencephalography? You can put a dry electrode EEG headset on the subject and use that to control a mechanical prosthetic. The prosthetic body can be as simple as a metal can on wheels with pincer arms, or as complex as a humanoid body. Potential movement pathways for a robot are called degrees of freedom. A human body has hundreds of degrees of freedom. Each new degree of freedom is more expensive, in terms of energy, computational power, and manufacture. If you can keep a subject conscious after putting them in a full body prosthetic, you can have them us a brain computer interface. The mobile body can be as simple as a motorized wheelchair or pincer claw with only 2 settings (opened or closed). The invasive (as in surgically implanted stuff) is more theoretical, but it can be useful for certain things. Priority: Moderate Development: Proven for decades, even for non-invasive systems.

-Neuronal Interface (directly connecting microchips and electrodes with neurons) Thanks to advances in carbon nanotube microelectrodes and bio-inspired materials, there's finally some better options than silicon implants. However, they still require surgery to implant and take time for the body to fully integrate. These may be useful for stimulating amputated neurons, largely as a form of rehabilitative or therapeutic neurostimulation. Without electric stimulation, neurons will atrophy. This is why I prefer the transposed organs, since we keep the spine and visceral nerves intact, and it's less of an issue. Now, if you want to build a Gits body (with just the brain and maybe the spine), you will need high-definition and high-bandwidth implants. However, you can also stimulate neurons without invasive implants, using ultrasound or magnetic stimulation. This is still a maturing technology, but also one that is required for a "true" Humai/Gits body. Invasive neuronal surgery is still a major drawback to this research, as is the cost of device fabrication and animal work. Priority: Low Development: Unproven.

-Neuroregeneration Regenerative neurobiology is already major research effort worldwide (take the company Bioquark right in Philadelphia for example), and regenerative nanotechnology DOES NOT YET EXIST. Nanotech neuronal regeneration is too far into the future too matter, and biotech and conventional treatments may prove easier. Given the growing elderly populations worldwide, there's a lot of interest in anti-neurodegenerative treatments, so I think neuro-regeneration (in some form) is plausible. Besides, you still need to ensure the patient survives long enough to need these treatments. Priority: Low Development: Ongoing, still reactive (dependent on specific diseases like Parkinsons or Alzheimers, and senolytics-based avenues are still experimental)

What we learned:

Companies, and poeple working on this include, “Prof. Kevin Warwick in the UK and Steve Potter at Georgia Tech, who used cultured neurons to control simple robots. Warwick's group claimed they got up to a year of viability for cultured neurons, before they died a septic death (as there was no artificial circulatory system to remove waste and give more nutrients). Similarly, Warwick and Potter mostly worked with 2D cultures instead of the 3D geometry neural tissue relies on. ASC could be useful at comparing structures of emergent neural networks...On the business side, an eccentric Russian oligarch, Dmitri Itskov, tried to build a project he calls the 2045 Initiative, but they've released nothing in the last few years. There was also an abortive US company called Humai, although they never had the funding Itskov did”

“Depends on technologies that are still fairly low on the TRL.

Many of these technologies already exist, but in fragmented and disjointed forms. A few key sections and my assessment of how immediately relevant they are: Neuroregeneration, artificial organs, brain computer interface, and neuronal interface.

"As I have kept saying, life support is the key issue here. Even if we never build a full body prosthetic, making life support compact and efficient enough for a body like this would directly improve and extend the lives of millions of people. Various forms of cardiovascular disease, after all, are responsible for ~66% of deaths worldwide each year.”

"An avatar with an artificial brain in which a human personality is transferred at the end of one’s life. (That’s what an organization called “2045 initiative” is aiming for) "

Challenges (philosophical, legal, technological, economical, financial):

Technological---

"There are a few possible ways to build a full body prosthetic. The first is transposing existing organs and the head, and keeping them all alive (think Robocop). The second is just keeping the brain alive (think Ghost in the Shell). The "Robocop" artificial body, I think, can be done with largely existing technology. That Humai sales pitch described something more akin to the Ghost in the Shell/Gits one, which is more advanced, theoretical, and complicated."

“The main constraint on the wetware cyborg body is the life support for now. People with lots of money, like DARPA, Musk's Neuralink, and the new Kernel company, are doing tests on the electrode implants/interfaces.”

artificial life support system keeping key organs and tissue alive

"Preserving/sustaining identity. Keeping track of all the people, having the technological resources to explore the universe/space. Modular Prosthetic Limb alone took 100's of scientists to build. Figuring out consequences like cyborg athletes, building a better souldier, a new type of discrimination, changing the lifestyle. Hopefully this project isn’t science fiction (instead science fact) or is a waste of money. One challenge is that the bci interface is not available. Another challenge is figuring out how the brain can be the central control for sensory pain and muscle reflex if the transit time from vision to brain or pain to brain is slower than the actual reflex. A third challenge is uploading or whole body prosthetics in less than 90 years. One that is safe and is what the human experiences normally. Particularly given that in the computing industry to the field of antibodies to genetic engineering it took decades to achieve their monumental change. A fourth challenge is significant access to a virus-free organismal development bio-safety lablaboratory for the following":

Philosophical---

Financial---

-"Overhead Costs (surgeons, medical facilities, clean sterilization of goods): At least 1 million USD

The concerns are malware through your brain to steal credit cards or alter memories, equipment failures, neural diseases or a body becoming destroyed through violence or accidents

-Artificial Heart/vascular pump: Keep blood moving: 80,000-100,000 USD

-Artificial Lung/lung substitute/ventilation apparatus (which should include a way of getting oxygen in and carbon dioxide out): 500,000-1,000,000 USD

-Wetware Brain Computer Interface/Spinal Interface: 100,000-1,000,000: For a carbon nanotube PEDOT based range of microelectrode arrays that would be inserted into the spine and brain to prevent neuronal atrophy.

-Catheter/Microbial Fuel Cell: For turning fecal matter and urine into power: At least 10,000 USD

-Sterile, Air/Watertight Container: For holding everything (plus a tube of marrow from the patient), plus would need to be sealed: At least 15,000-50,000 USD

-The artificial arms and legs, plus power systems, drivers, and hydraulics, would be akin to an industrial robot of that size in cost (let's say 50,000 USD for something serviceable).”

Legal---

What's next:

Additional quotes -

Ray Kurzweil says, “People say at 30, oh I only want to live to 90 but when they’re 90 they actually realize they maybe want to live to 91.” and “I want to live forever for the same reason I want to wake up tomorrow.”

Peter Thiel says, “I’ve always had this really strong sense that death was a terrible, terrible thing. I think that’s somewhat unusual. Most people end up compartmentalizing, and they are in some weird mode of denial and acceptance about death. I prefer to fight it.”

Sam Harris says, “Well I do have existential worries and I think I like anybody else am concerned about death its its its death in some ways unacceptable it’s just an astonishing fact of our being here that we die but I think worse than that if we live long enough we lose everyone we love in this world. People die and disappear and we are left with this stark mystery uh just the sheer not knowing of what happened to them.” , “I’m not arguing that consciousness is a reality beyond science or beyond the brain that it floats free of the brain at death, I’m not I’m not making any spooky claims about its metaphysics” , and “Death is awful, and we need to get rid of it sooner rather than later. We need to lose this idea that not wanting to die is somehow crazy or deviant. Not wanting to die is actually one of the most rational beliefs a person can have.”

“We can take it as axiomatic that life is good and death is bad.”

Credits:

Dr. (John) LaRocco’s accomplishments (He holds a provisional patent on a life support system for full body prosthetic. He’s a biomedical engineer with an interest in life support neuro prosthetics for patients): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321485197_Surgical_Evaluation_of_a_Full-Body_Prosthetic

Dr. (Natasha) Vita-More "Primo Posthuman" whole body prosthetic (1997) and https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118736302.ch17

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001122401500245X

Robert McIntyre

Image credit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5256287/Psychasec-displays-human-sleeves-glass-cases-CES.html

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