While doing a little background research for a notebook item running in the March issue, I had the opportunity to type the words ?Brain Transplantation? into Google?s search window. The very first hit you get is for, aptly enough, BrainTrans Inc. which promises to restore health, youth, and vitality the surgical way ? by plopping your cerebrum into the body of a younger, fitter model. Now I tend to be skeptical about such things, but who wouldn?t be plied by their argument for buying yourself a second helping of life?

?When you car too old to fix it, you are buying a new car. Would it be wonderful if you will be able to change you human body as easy as you can change a car.?

We?ll excuse their spelling, they hail, after all, from ?Asian Region,? a location they won?t fully disclose until I?ve signed all the necessary papers and am properly prepared for the procedure. In their ?about us? page they also mention that they have the best lawyer team in the world. Important, I?d assume, when clearing the donor consent form. Donors are aged 13-30 and come mostly from Eastern European countries, they say. But please respect their privacy too.

?Because of the ethical aspects we do not discuss how and were we getting new human bodies for brain transplantation.?

Ethical aspects indeed, but I?m more concerned about the scientific aspects. The implications for nature versus nurture are tremendous. How complete is the identity transference? Would I be more likely to work out in a trim muscular body? Could an obese person?s brain cause him or her to gain weight in the body of a skinny person? And how have they operated for so long without the wider scientific community taking notice. Unfortunately the history of brain transplantation science that they present features a number of significant gaps, and doesn?t once mention the groundbreaking work of Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr .

I had to know more. A request for information on their sign-up form hasn?t produced anything for several days. A DNS lookup turned up Interland Inc. a web-hosting company based in Atlanta GA. When I called them for more information, a nice young woman in the Philippines spent nearly 20 minutes on the phone between me and her supervisor trying to find out more about the company. She couldn?t give me any information on the account, but did mention that it was frozen in their system, possibly because of a billing issue. At $499,000.00 a transplant and a long list of clients in their ?samples? page, I?m surprised they would have lapsed on their account.