JON SNOW Connection: BIO-TECH firm to research resurrection in India

Just a few days after, the world saw Mellisandre resurrecting Jon Snow from the dead, in the popular serial Game Of Thrones, reports have come out, of a US Biotech company beginning its research to regenerate the brains of dead people.

The radical trial, which has received the ethical approval of US regulatory bodies, will see testing on 20 patients who have been declared clinically dead from traumatic brain injury, to test whether parts of their central nervous system can be revived.

Dr Ira Pastor, the CEO of Bioquark Inc, the company undertaking the research said: “This represents the first trial of its kind and another step towards the eventual reversal of death in our lifetime.

Aptly called the RE-ANIMA PROJECT, it will see a combination of therapies, which include injecting the brain with stem cells and a cocktail of peptides, as well as deploying lasers , and nerve stimulation techniques which have been shown to bring patients out of comas, reports the TELEGRAPH.

THE INDIAN CONNECTION

The Re-Anima Project has received approach from an Institutional Review Board at the National Institutes of Health in the US and in India, and the team plans to start recruiting patients immediately.

The first stage, named 'First In Human Neuro-Regeneration & Neuro-Reanimation' will be a non-randomized, single group 'proof of concept' and will take place at Anupam Hospital in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand India. The team is reportedly working with the hospital to rule out religious/medical/family barriers towards organ donation

THE PLAN

As summarised by India Today, first phase of the ReAnima project, scientists will conduct the following procedures:

1. The peptides will be administered into the spinal cord daily via a pump, with the stem cells given bi-weekly, over the course of a 6 week period.


2. They will employ lasers and nerve stimulation techniques which have been shown to bring patients out of comas.


3. The patients will have been certified dead and only kept alive through life support ( that is brain stem function is permanently lost.)


4. During the six-week period, the scientists will delve into the first move toward bringing them back to life.


5. Using brain imaging equipment they will look for signs of regeneration, particularly in the lowest region of the brain stem, which controls independent breathing and heartbeat.

“Through our study, we will gain unique insights into the state of human brain death, which will have important connections to future therapeutic development for other severe disorders of consciousness, such as coma, and the vegetative and minimally conscious states, as well as a range of degenerative CNS conditions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease,” added Dr Sergei Paylian, Founder, President, and Chief Science Officer of Bioquark Inc.

Commenting on the trial, Dr Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist at the Cardiff University’s Centre for Medical Education said: “While there have been numerous demonstrations in recent years that the human brain and nervous system may not be as fixed and irreparable as is typically assumed, the idea that brain death could be easily reversed seems very far-fetched, given our current abilities and understanding of neuroscience.

WAY TO GO SCIENCE!