The first ever human head transplant could be done by the end of the decade that is about to begin. This is supported by a former neurosurgeon who believes he knows how the enterprise of shifting a person's consciousness into another body can work.
bruce matthew, former clinical chief of neurosurgery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, was working on a science fiction novel with Institute of Futurology founder Michael Lee when he realized the potential key to making extravagant head transplant surgery a success.
First head transplant: bone marrow is also needed
Long story short, Mathew believes surgeons should not only transplant a person's head, but place the entire spinal cord in another body.
Until now, the few controversial scientists who strove to make head transplantation (when not brain transplants) a reality have focused primarily on methods that exclude the spinal cord. Head transplantation is an idea that Mathew, an experienced neurosurgeon with more than 10.000 operations performed, describes as "absolutely ridiculous".
But the 63-year-old Scot says that human advances in neurosurgery, robotics and stem cell transplants could allow an entire spinal cord (and obviously the corresponding head) to be reconnected to another body before 2030. A real transplant. head, in summary.
"Initially our intention was to brainstorm an intuition and it seemed pretty silly, but then I realized it really isn't. If you transplant the brain and keep the brain and spinal cord together, it's actually not impossible." he said Mathew to The Telegraph.
“The spinal cord is the closest thing you can imagine to an individual. We need to keep the brain connected to the spinal cord. The idea of separating it from the head in a transplant is absolutely ridiculous. "I suppose that for this reason a brain transplant is to be considered a completely senseless operation. Brain transplant and human head transplant are two totally different paths.
Head transplant: yesterday and today
Brain transplant studies start long ago. Robert J. White's mammoth work over the past century has marked much of current research. The head transplant "dad" has published more than 900 articles on the topic "monkey head transplant".
Today, one of the scientists who rose to "headlines" in the field of head transplantation is the Italian neurosurgeon sergio canavero. In 2017, the controversial Dr sergio canavero, a neurosurgeon, said he successfully performed a first head transplant on a cadaver, bypassing the spinal cord starting at the base of the neck.
Sergio Canavero's procedure has received a sea of criticism from other scientists (and a small passage on the show "The hyenas head transplant edition"), who in addition to skepticism have underlined his previous claim of success with a monkey, which has not she never regained consciousness and would have been paralyzed if she did. A few years ago, in 2015, the TV show "le iene" also dealt with his case. For my part, I searched for "monkey head transplant" but I didn't find many sources around: I'll try better.
Canavero, who has a human volunteer on hold, suggested that his work on head transplants it could pave the way for immortality. And that of "immortality" is also the concept used in the title of Mathew and Lee's book, "Chrysalis": a sort of surgical science fiction about the potential of some procedures.
But if we go from science fiction to reality, where are we with the head transplant?
"At the moment, you can connect one or two nerves, but with robotics and artificial intelligence we will soon be able to do 200 nerves. lumbar region in a new body. Obviously it is very difficult to extract the dura (the protective membrane of the spinal cord) without making a hole.
Any medical benefits
While the method would not be of any help to people with spinal injuries, it could help people with degenerative muscle diseases, and Mathew suggests that it could allow people to receive robotic bodies.
Mathew told The Telegraph that there are still doubts that the head and spine can be made to successfully integrate with so much of another person's DNA. It may also be necessary to transfer its intestinal bacteria.
But he believes that stem cell transplants could be used to prevent rejection.
"By taking DNA from the brain and spinal cord, as well as a bone marrow donor. You would get rid of the donor's DNA and then colonize it with that of the person receiving the body.", he told the newspaper.
"I mean, there are huge problems with the first head transplant, but it is possible. There are thousands of people in hibernation, often just their heads. There are companies that really believe they will wake them up one day from the dead, cure them of disease and give their new bodies. In comparison what I am proposing is quite conservative ".
