If I only had a brain: Human head transplant coming soon?

Health News

Italian scientist Sergio Canavero would like to give you head. That is, he would like to give your head a new body, and he says that could happen as soon as two years from now. It sounds like a Giallo version of Hammer’s Curse of Frankenstein, but Canavero has actually published a paper on his research, not in a pulp magazine, but in the Journal Surgical Neurology International. He originally proposed the concept of a human head transplant in 2013, and will discuss it further at the annual conference of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons in Annapolis, Maryland. The surgery would ostensibly prolong the lives of people with major nerve and muscle damage or whose bodies are riddled with cancer.

In the procedure, the recipient’s (a mentally sound person with a failing body) and the donor’s (a brain-dead patient) heads would have to be cooled enough to give the cells time to survive without oxygen. The former’s head and the latter’s body would then be connected by fusing the ends of the spinal cords with a chemical called polyethylene glycol, which has been shown to promote cell re-growth – no word on whether Canavero would use Herbert West’s serum. The patient would be kept in a 3-4 weeklong medically induced coma during which electrodes would be used to stimulate the spinal cord and get the body to strengthen new nerve connections. Additionally, stem cells or olfactory ensheating cells could be injected to make up the connection of the nose and the brain. The patient would have to take drugs to prevent immune system rejection for the rest of the lives – provided they survive the operation, that is.

Canavero says that when the patient wakes up (may I add, if he wakes up) they would be able to move and feel their face and speak with their own voice. Moreover, they could learn to walk in a year with physiotherapy. Volunteers are already lining up at Canavero’s door, but there is still the question of finding a country willing to allow the experiment, seeing as the Island of Dr. Moreau is not available. “The real stumbling block is the ethics,” Canavero said. “Should this surgery be done at all? There are obviously going to be many people who disagree with it.” He would like to put his theory to practice in the United States, but approval might be more easily obtained in Europe. Either way, he thinks that “we are now at a point when the technical aspects are all feasible.” “A specially fashioned diamond microtomic snare-blade is one option; a nanoknife made of a thin layer of silicon nitride with a nanometer sharp cutting edge is another alternative,” the scientist – who may or may not be mad – wrote about the type of surgical knife he would use to address the risk of spinal cord damage. “Notably, the mechanical strength of silicon is superior to that of steel.” He didn’t expand on his plans to escape an angry mob of peasants wielding torches and pitchforks, though.

Seriously though, there actually are precedents ((Go Lis! Way to cite precedent!). Russian scientist Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov created a two headed dog in the 1950’s (he would’ve added a third head to recreate Cerberus, but that would have presumably opened the gates of Hell). Demikhov presented the short-lived affront to god at a meeting of the Moscow Surgical Society, and Time Magazine published a story on the bicephalous pooch. And who could forget CatDog? Then in 1970, Robert White transplanted the head of one monkey onto the body of another at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. However, White didn’t join the spinal cords so the monkey couldn’t move the body, but it could breathe with artificial assistance.

Skepticism about the whole thing abounds, though, especially the concern that the procedure could be used for aesthetic rather than for practical courses. “If a head transplant were ever to take place, it would be very rare. It’s not going to happen because someone says ‘I’m getting older, I’m arthritic, maybe I should get a body that works better and looks better,” neurologist and bioethicist at the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System in California Patricia Scripko told the New Scientist. “I believe that what is specifically human is held within the higher cortex. If you modify that, then you are not the same human and you should question whether it is ethical. In this case, you’re not altering the cortex,” she added regarding the ethical issue, but also noted that many cultures believe the soul is not confined to the brain and would thus reject the entire notion.

Scripko doesn’t think the procedure is ever going to transpire, and she’s not alone, either. “This is such an overwhelming project, the possibility of it happening is very unlikely,” clinical professor of neurological surgery at the University of California, Davis Harry Goldsmith said on NewScientist.com. “I don’t believe it will ever work, there are too many problems with the procedure. Trying to keep someone healthy in a coma for four weeks – it’s not going to happen.” Even The American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons (AANOS) and the International College of Surgeons (ICS), which are giving Canavero a stage in which to present his ideas, are torn about it. Executive director of the US branch of the ICS said they don’t sponsor his ideas but are merely “creating a venue for him to launch the project. There will be a lot of top international surgeons at the conference and we shall see whether it is well received or not.” On the other hand, chairman of the AANOS William Mathews said “I embrace the concept of spinal fusion, and I think there are a lot of areas that a head transplant can be used,” though he does “disagree with Canavero on the timing. He thinks it’s ready, I think it’s far into the future.”

Related Read:

First human head transplant two years away, says one surgeon.

First human head transplant could happen in two years.

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