The world’s first human head transplant is finally going to be taking place in 2017. The Italian neurosurgeon, Dr.Sergio Canavero, will finally make good on his promise to deliver the first human head transplant to the world on a Chinese man.
Many experts remain highly skeptical that this would work.
The Promise
Italian neurosurgeon, Dr.Sergio Canavero, had been promising to deliver the first human head transplant to the world, and is now making good on that promise. Last year, he had promised to transfer a human head on a deceased donor’s body.
Many experts have claimed that this is nothing but a PR stunt or a complete hoax. Some have even joked that it might all be a plot to promote “Metal Gear Solid”, due to the doctor’s uncanny resemblance to the game’s main characters.
However, despite all this, Canavero remained firm with his plan to deliver the operation.
Remarks
“Of course there will be ideas that crater. The history of mankind is trial and error. But we have to be dreamers. If you don’t dream, you’re not going anywhere. You might call me a bit crazy. A kook. I am! You have to be if you want to change everything,” he said in an interview with The Guardian.
He explained that daring endeavors are just a necessary part of scientific exploration, and society’s job has always been “to tease apart the kooks from the super-kooks. And maybe you can only know after the caper.”
He says that he already assembled a team of surgeons from China, South Korea, and Russia and are just waiting for funding and for approval of the operation.
Previous Attempts
According to his collaborator, Dr.Xiaoping, from China’s Harbin Medical University, he was able to successfully transplant a monkey head onto another monkey in January. However the monkey had to be euthanized 20 hours later “for ethical reasons.”
Also, the spinal cord wasn’t actually attached, which would be the case in a human head transplant.
“We’re looking at a date around Christmas 2017 to perform the transplant in China. The Chinese team has already experimented on human cadavers to hone the technology,” Dr. Canavero revealed.