Cornea (1905), Kidney
(1950), Pancreas (1966), Heart/Liver (1967) and Lung (1981)... What
followed was even more incredible: Hand (1998), Penis (2006), Arms
(2008), Legs (2011) and Face (2013). Logically, Head should come the
next. And, it seems so.
Dr. Sergio Canavero,
neurosurgeon from Italy confirms that possibility in a couple of
years. Calling it a 'Head Transplant' maybe inaccurate because what
the recipient gets is a body, not a head! The misnomer aside,
promise of an extended life to someone with a healthy brain, but a
diseased or dysfunctional body captures our attention.
The procedure involves
surgical severing of the heads of both the donor and recipient to
begin with. The recipient's head will then be aligned with the
donor's body and the circulating system between the two connected to
ensure blood to the brain. A robot assisted microsurgery that
follows will render the more complex job of joining the spinal cords
and nerves.
Though, still a theory,
'mating' one person's head with the body of another seems bizarre.
How will the recipient's brain react to the sudden loss of its body,
and adjust to the demands of another? Dr. Canavero himself says, the
'chimera' created will carry the mind of the recipient, while
children born subsequently will inherit genetic traits of the donor!
Confused? This
anecdote, if true, may have an answer. While experimenting with
transplants in 1970, well-known neurosurgeon Dr Robert White severed
the head of a Rhesus monkey and attached it to the body of another.
When the monkey woke up and noticed its new body, it glared, snarled,
and snapped at Dr. White. Was the monkey expressing horror, dread,
or helplessness?
"The reasonable man
adapts himself to the world;
the unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to himself...."
the unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to himself...."
~ George B Shaw
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