The Brain Behind the First ‘Frankenstein’ Surgery
Dr. Sergio Canavero plans the first ever human head transplant, two centuries after a monster was created by fictional Dr. Frankenstein.
That’s right! Italian neurosurgeon Dr. Canavero is making history with the first head transplant scheduled for December 2017. Many individuals in the science community have questioned his proposal, calling him crazy. This article will deconstruct Canavero’s plan and the problems with this risky procedure.
Despite ridicule Canavero already has a volunteer for the procedure, terminally ill Valery Spiridonov. He suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann Disease, a genetic disorder that causes rapid degeneration of nerve cells. This disease initially leads to muscle weakness and eventually complete loss of motor skills which is why Spirdonov is confined to a wheelchair. However, Canavero’s head transplant procedure has the potential to change his life.
The first step for Canavero and his team is to cool Spirdonov’s body to approximately 17°C, buying the crew of 150 medics about an hour to perform the transplant while the brain is still viable. Next the 36 to 72 hour long marathon surgery begins as both the donor and recipient’s head will be removed simultaneously.
A crane will be used to lower Spirdonov’s head onto the donor’s neck. The head will be fused to the body using a chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG) which is known for aiding in the regrowth of spinal cord cells. The goal is that PEG will help the donor body accept the transplant. After the operation, Spirdonov will be kept in a coma for about four weeks to inhibit any movement.
The numerous ethical and scientific obstacles haven’t stopped Canavero. In 2016, he tested out his procedure with repeated successful rat head transplants. Therefore the same procedure should work with humans in theory.
Yet it isn’t that easy, as Anto Cartolovni and Antonio Spagnolo, two Italian bioethicists, noted in a letter to Surgical Neurology International after Canavero’s paper was published last year:
“Despite his [Canavero’s] vision, modern cognitive science shows that our cognition is an embodied cognition, in which the body is a real part in the formation of human self,” they write. “Therefore, the person will encounter huge difficulties to incorporate the new body in its already existing body schema and body image that would have strong implications on human identity.”
Maybe there is more to a human head transplant than what Dr. Canavero makes it out be. Nonetheless his head transplant may be the first step to human immortality and other scientific discoveries. Human head transplants can serve as treatment for spinal muscular atrophy and potentially make brain death a thing of the past.
