Indian Body Deregisters 'Modern Frankenstein' Clinical Trials on Dead

India has withdrawn permission for injecting the brains of dead patients with stem cells in an attempt to bring them back to life. India cancelled the world’s first `ReAnima’ trial on grounds of lapses in documentation. But trial team challenges its authority to cancel ethical trials on 20 cadavers.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India has struck off an experiment to breathe life into brain-dead accident victims from its clinical trials registry on regulatory grounds.

Many term the world’s first trials of this kind as a modern take on the classical Frankenstein theory of resuscitation of the dead.

Geeta Jotwani, a senior official with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) told the Science Magazine about several regulatory lapses in the trial. These include failure to take permission from the Drug Controller General of India.

“Now that ICMR has deregistered ReAnima, the Drug Controller General of India must stop the trial immediately,’’ she said.

The project was a joint-venture between a Philadelphia-based biotech company and a hospital in a little known Himalayan town of Rudrapur.

The trial recently gained a lot of media attention when an Indian orthopedic surgeon announced plans to inject the central nervous system of around 20 brain-dead people with stem cells and give laser and median nerve stimulation. These techniques have sometimes revived patients from coma.
Bioquark, a US-based biotech firm, had agreed to supply specialized chemicals that may help regenerate brain cells.

However, the doctor, Himanshu Bansal, says ICMR is overstepping its jurisdiction and the matter rests with the drug controller. CEO of the US firm Bioquark, Ira Pastor, also believes that the setback won’t stop the project. If necessary the trials may be moved outside India. “Many road blocks, no doubt, will pop up. But the project will go on,” Pastor said.