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HWN Suggests

Just Say No to Head Transplants

Hey.

Don’t get upset. I’m not here for the usual reason. I don’t do this very often, but I wanted to speak out after I heard that some folks were trying to cheat death yet again, this time by doing a head transplant. Yes, that’s right, transplanting the head from a failing body to someone else’s body.

Let me start by saying that I am not the bad guy here. Death is a feature programmed by nature for every living organism; it’s not my fault. My job is simply to shepherd you out of this dimension. Don’t kill the messenger, OK?

So what about head (or body) transplantation? My instincts are good; I know a rat when I smell one. Still, I’m no scientist, so I looked into…

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Featured

 Human head transplants’ gory, Frankenstein-esque history

From two-headed Soviet dogs to modern 'brotech.' From the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, modern organ transplantation has often been linked to the horrors of Frankenstein. While people have grown to accept kidney and liver transplants as life-saving surgeries, the notion of a head transplant still invokes Frankenstein-like revulsion in the medical community and beyond.

Articles of Interest

Doctor Seeking To Perform Head Transplant Is Out Of His Mind

Dr. Canavero is not trying to perfect an approach that is cosmetic. He does not seek to find a way to give you the body that you always dreamed of without the burden of diet or exercise. He wants to use head transplantation surgery to extend the lives of people whose muscles, bodily organs and immune systems have degenerated or wasted away.

Head Transplantation: The Future Is Now

Dr Canavero believes that impossible is only a way of the mind. By changing perspective, everything becomes attainable. He proved so when in three months at age 27 worked out the mechanism of one of the most intractable medical mysteries ever, central pain syndrome. In 2013, he made worldwide news with his project of cerebrosomatic anastomosis (Head Transplant) and again in 2014 with his cortical stimulation proposal for the treatment of psychopaths.

How to Perform a Head Transplant

Just because you shouldn't do something doesn't mean you can't.

Surgery’s Far Frontier: Head Transplants

Head transplants, at the extreme frontier of medicine, are inching toward reality. Dr. Ren plans to turn his surgical skills to monkeys this summer, hoping to create the first head-transplanted primate that can live and breathe on its own, at least for a little while.

The Audacious Plan to Save This Man’s Life by Transplanting His Head

Transplanting a head does, of course, present tremendous new challenges for surgeons. Unlike, say, fingers, which can survive for days detached from a body, brains suffer irreversible damage within minutes of losing blood flow.

The problem with human head transplants

While most spinal injuries are caused by traumas that bruise or tear the nerves, a transplant surgeon could sever the cord cleanly with a scalpel blade. But weighed against this small advantage is the staggering complexity of joining two separate neural circuits that have neither developed nor functioned together before. Even if the spinal cord could be reconnected, would the patient ever learn to control the new body? The brain has a remarkable capacity for rewiring itself, especially as we develop during childhood. But the “plasticity” of the adult brain has limitations.

Transplant Headaches: Head transplant on the horizon

With the first HHT on the horizon, guttural yuck-reactions, and references to the ethical questionability of this procedure abound. A famous ethicist suggested that the surgeon is “out of his mind.” But I am unsure if this rejection is fair. If we have allowed the development of kidney, heart, hand, face, uterus, and penis transplants, why would this new area of transplant medicine raise prohibitive concerns?

World’s First Head Transplant Scheduled for December 2017

An Italian scientist has planned the first human head transplant for December 2017. Is this a case of misguided science, or will this be an unprecedented step forward for medical research?