A neuroscientist in Italy tells how to perform a total human head transplant. Arguing that the surgical procedure is becoming a reality.
This sounds like something straight out of the Frankenstein story. But researchers have been trying this on animals for decades. The first head transplant was done on a monkey. But, nobody could figure out how to attach the head to the spinal cord.
Dr. Sergio Canavero says that he in fact, can solve this problem. “The greatest technical hurdle to such endeavor is of course the reconnection of the donor’s and recipient’s spinal cords” he says. “It is my contention that the technology only now exists for such linkage. This paper sketches out a possible human scenario and outlines the technology to reconnect the severed cord (project GEMINI).” He also said that many hopeless medical conditions may be addressed with the procedure that can cost about 13 million dollars. The conditions that can be treated by a head transplant include quadriplegia and muscular dystrophy. Some people are even more than willing to donate their heads if they are given the option to do so. The Dr wrote that a clean cut must be made to disconnect and reconnect the head at the spine. Then, certain adhesive materials can be used to fuse the head and spine to the recipient. “It is this ‘clean cut’ the key to spinal cord fusion, in that it allows proximally severed axons to be ‘fused’ with their distal counterparts.” Another neurologist said that this is a complete fantasy. He also stated that “But to sever a head and even contemplate the possibility of gluing axons back properly across the lesion to their neighbors is pure and utter fantasy in my opinion… This is bad science, this should never happen.” Canaveros paper was published in a journal called Surgical Neurology International.
Leave a Comment