...And a Side Order of Wings

Dr. Rosen would make you an angel, if only the law would let him

By Sanjiv Bhattacharya
Published: Dec 01, 2007

Joe Rosen, from the Dartmouth Medical School, is the most radical plastic surgeon at work today. He brings an artist’s imagination to the operating room and his ideas have caused a stir among traditional doctors who believe he should stick to healing the sick as Hippocrates wished it. The trouble is, Rosen doesn’t want to stop at nose jobs and lipo. He wants to install echolocation devices in soldier’s heads for better night-time navigation, or fins on our backs for swimming. “Why not give waiters an extra thumb on each hand?” he says. Is the man bananas or is he onto something? “Plastic surgery is the intersection of art and science,” he continues. “We have always altered ourselves either for beauty or for power and what makes us think we should stop?” He dreams one day of being able to give a man wings like an angel – a subject he lectures on regularly. “I think there’s a way of doing it using torso fat and rib bone.” Now, don’t all rush at once.

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