TechKnow 105: Life after a face transplant & saving California's condors

September 22, 2013 5:00PM ET

Meet the recipient of a full facial transplant and learn how GPS is helping save endangered condors

Topics:
Science
Technology
Health

Join our expert contributors Phil Torres, Lindsay Moran and Rachelle Oldmixon as they meet Carmen Tarleton, the seventh person in the U.S. to receive a full face transplant, as she rebuilds her life and meets the donor's daughter. Plus a look at how GPS technology helped bring California condors back from the brink of extinction.

More on Carmen Tarleton and condors

Carmen Tarleton

After a brutal attack left her with burns over 80 percent of her body, Carmen Tarleton endured over 50 surgeries in five years before learning she was a candidate for a facial transplant. “I was stunned,” says Tarleton of learning what doctors had in mind. “I was shocked that this could even be done.”

After fighting her immune system's inital rejection of the new face, Tarleton's transplant was deemed a success. She does daily exercises to continue gaining control over her new facial muscles.

San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research

At the Institute for Conservation Research at the San Diego Zoo, scientists use GPS tracking systems to monitor behavior and flight patterns of the endangered condor population in Baja California.

Find Al Jazeera America on your TV