On Replacing the Wetware
We humans like to look ahead to step two as a distraction from the labors of step one. Here, Al Fin discusses options for replacing the biological basis of the mind with whatever nanotechnology can build a better neuron - versus a strategy of repairing the neurons we have, that is. He is, correctly I think, pessimistic about progress on rapid time frames for the nanotechnology option, and more optimistic about repair initiatives like the Strategies for Engineeered Negligible Senescence. First things first, I say. We will see the first brain prosthetics become widely available within the next decade, judging by the state of present research, but they will be dedicated devices, large compared to a neuron, aimed at specific errant brain components. It's quite a way from there to replacement of your fallible tissue, cell by cell, with more study artifical components. It will become possible sometime later this century, and we'll all be the better for having that choice, but it's far more useful now to focus on repairing the biology we have today, given that our expiration date approaches all too rapidly.
Link: http://alfin2100.blogspot.com/2007/10/living-longer-in-our-bodies-vs.html