Face transplants coming soon

But his own survey of 120 people including nurses and doctors revealed that while some would be willing to receive a face transplant, none would be prepared to donate their own face. Butler hopes that if full details of the procedure and its medical need are made clear, potential donors might be able to overcome their initial revulsion.

The recipient would not look like the donor, Butler stresses. Martin Evison, an expert in forensic facial reconstruction at the University of Sheffield, UK, agrees. "The musculature of a face is particular to a skull as it develops. Muscles in the face of one person would have to be re-sculpted if they were to be transplanted onto another skull - and the face would not look the same," he says.