The first of a series of four programmes presenting questions concerning science, scientists and the public.
Presented by Anthony Smith
Medical technology can now keep a human body functioning even though the brain may be dead. Do we now have a new category of existence - the neomort - whose thinking brain is dead, yet whose heart and lungs are working normally. A neomort could be ideal for testing new drugs, for heart and cancer research, and as a natural organ bank for transplant surgery. Would this 'harvest of the dead' revolutionise medical research or merely constitute an outrage against human dignity? What ethical and legal issues are involved?
