Well, this past Thursday Dr. Canavero took his assertions one step further, stating that he’s developed a procedure that could successfully sever a human head and transplant it onto another human frame.
While Canavero’s idea might seem ludicrous, head transplants have been successful-ish in the past. Back in the 1970s a rather gruesome procedure was carried out at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University. During the operation the head of a Ceres monkey was transplanted onto the body of another monkey. Though the transplant was successful the Frankenstein simian only lived for 9 days, eventually succumbing to tissue rejection. What’s more, the monkey never had its brain and spinal cord rejoined, so its mind didn’t really have control of anything below the neck.
Knowing that a human head transplant would absolutely require the brain be reconnected to the body, Canavero has detailed a procedure that he says will give a patient full control of their new body after a short recovery period.
In his novel transplant procedure, Canavero states that both the patient’s head and the donor’s body would have to be cooled before the procedure begins to ensure all tissue survives the operation, which would see both parts deprived of oxygen for extended stretches.
Once cooled, the tissue around both heads would be dissected and the blood vessels from the patient head and the donor body would be connected using tubes. After a secure bloodline is established the delicate process of trimming both spinal cords would begin. To bind the spinal cords together surgeons would use polyethylene glycol, a chemical that has been proven to quickly repair nerve membranes in guinea pigs after traumatic spinal injuries.
With Canavero’s Frankenstein-like union complete, the patient would be eased into a coma for up to a month where paralysis would keep the patient still as their spinal cords begin to heal. During this time electrical stimulation would be used to ensure that the proper connections grow between the once separated parts.
While a number of Canavero’s colleagues have questioned the ethics and scientific validity of the physician’s idea, Canavero is adamant about pursuing human head transplants: "These experts failed for 35 years to cure paralysis, [I’m] pretty sure the bad science is theirs.”
Ugh. My neck feels squirmy even thinking about this.
Source: Telegraph