The first human head transplant is scheduled for December 2017.

Background

Although we are in times of great change, it is hard to believe that you can actually transplant the head of one human being into the body of another.

However, already in the twentieth century several scientists investigated the issue. The first was the Soviet scientist Vladimir Démikhov who in 1954 transplanted the head and front legs of a puppy into the body of an adult German shepherd . The dog resulting from the intervention survived less than a week.

Later, some researchers from Cleveland, led by Robert J. White and inspired by the works of Démijov, transplanted the head of one monkey to the body of another. In this case the result of the intervention was quite successful, since the monkey was able to smell, taste, hear and observe the world around him. However, in return, he was paralyzed from the neck down. As in the first case, the monkey barely survived two weeks.

Finally, a Chinese researcher named Xiaoping Ren conducted a similar experiment with rats, which managed to survive one day.

What does the operation consist of?

It has been stipulated that the operation will take about 36 hours and will involve more than 100 surgeons . In addition, the operation is expected to cost about $11 million.

The aim of the operation is none other than to connect the head of one patient to the body of another . An important fact is that the receiver will not be able to choose the body. Some sources reveal that a person who has suffered an accident or has been sentenced to death will be selected.

As for the specific details of neurosurgery and although not much information has been transcended, it is known with certainty that first they will have to cut all the structures that connect the head with the body of the patient, including the spinal cord which contains some 20 million connections. The bonding they will have to make to re-establish the connections with the new body will be carried out with the help of a chemical called polyethylene glycol , which facilitates the reconstruction of both bones and nerve fibres.

Sergio Canavero, the Italian neurosurgeon who will lead the operation, says that two years are enough to verify all the scientific calculations and complete all the permits, including approval of the intervention by various bioethics committees.

The attitude of the scientific community towards this intervention is divided in two . On the one hand, some researchers consider it a Canavero delirium that they label as crazy. On the other hand, other scientists support it and believe that the intervention will represent a door to the future.

Characteristics of the body’s receiver

Considering that the intervention has already been tested on animals with generally poor results, it is difficult to imagine that anyone would want to undergo it voluntarily.

Valeri Spiridonov is the name of a man who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a serious degenerative genetic disease that prevents him from moving his limbs except for his hands and head. Generally, 50% of children born with this disease do not survive the first year of life. However, Spiridonov has already turned 30.

As he explains the operation is his only way out “I have to do it because I don’t have many options. My decision is final, and I don’t plan to change it,” he says. The operation, if successful, could provide him with a body with which he can perform functions such as walking and picking up things, among other motor functions.

Possible consequences

We’re talking about a head transplant. Although there has not been much debate about the repercussions and the psychological consequences that such an intervention can cause, I think it is important to mention some aspects and pose some thought-provoking questions to the readers.

One of the aspects to take into account is the longevity of people. It is true that in recent decades people’s life expectancy has increased considerably. But how will it affect the whole world that some people live on average about 80 years and that others thanks to the intervention live 120 ?, what changes will occur in society by living more years?

The ethical debate comes into play

This is what the neurosurgeon Canavero, who is creating high expectations about the intervention, says: “We are one step away from prolonging life indefinitely, as I will be able to give an 80-year-old a new body to live another 40 years”.

On the other hand also there is some doubt about the selection of the future receivers . Canavero has stated that in principle the operation will only be performed on people who have no other way out, people with diseases or pathologies that prevent them from moving normally. However, the neurosurgeon has also revealed that he already has 50 candidates willing to transplant their heads and that most of these are transsexuals . So where does the limit lie, what criteria will be used to select one person over another, will these people enter transplant waiting lists or will they follow a separate line?

Towards a future of à la carte body changes?

Another aspect of equal relevance is the psychological impact that will possibly cause the body to change for both the patient and his or her family and friends. This has been discussed and the neurosurgeon has stated that “the patient will undergo training with the help of psychologists. For at least six months, before the operation, he will wear glasses that will show his head with a new body”. Will this training with glasses be enough to avoid psychological rejection? Will he end up like the first patient who had a hand transplanted in 1988 and two years later asked to have it cut off? Will he be able to overcome the psychological rejection of seeing himself in a new body?

In relation to the psychological consequences, another fact that Canavero has revealed to us is that in the event that the patient who has already undergone surgery decides to have children, the cells of the body of these children will contain the DNA of the body of the donor . That is, the children will be born genetically similar to the body but not to the head of the patient.

This could lead to a world where children will not have to have the genes of their biological parents.

A medical possibility that should open a debate beyond the scientific

In short, I personally think it is important to ask yourself some questions about the intervention and the changes it can bring to the whole planet. How can these changes influence people both on a nomothetic level and on an ideographic level?