Face transplant patient can smile, blink again

This undated two picture combo provided by The Lancet, shows an unidentified 29-year-old man with tumors, left, and the same man, right, after a transplanted new lower face from a donor. Transplanting faces may seem like science fiction, but doctors say the experimental surgeries could one day become routine. In papers from two of the world\'s three teams that have performed partial face transplants, experts said their techniques were surprisingly effective, though complications exist and more work is still needed. In this week\'s British medical journal The Lancet, Dr. Laurent Lantieri and colleagues reported on their patient\'s status one year after the transplant. In 2007, Lantieri and colleagues operated on this 29-year-old man with tumors that blurred his features. They transplanted a new lower face from a donor, giving the patient recognizable cheeks, a nose and mouth. Six months later, he could smile and blink. (AP Photo/The Lancet/ho)