Neuroscientist: First-Ever Human Head Transplant Is Now Possible

dryriver writes "Technical barriers to grafting one person's head onto another person's body can now be overcome, says Dr. Sergio Canavero, a member of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group. In a recent paper, Canavero outlines a procedure modeled on successful head transplants which have been carried out in animals since 1970. The one problem with these transplants was that scientists were unable to connect the animals' spinal cords to their donor bodies, leaving them paralyzed below the point of transplant. But, says Canavero, recent advances in re-connecting spinal cords that are surgically severed mean that it should be technically feasible to do it in humans. (This is not the same as restoring nervous system function to quadriplegics or other victims of traumatic spinal cord injury.)"

Comments

head transplant, or body transplant?

[Trepidity]

I suppose it depends on whether a larger proportion of personal distinctiveness resides above or below the neck, but I would guess it's closer to a head getting a body transplant, than to a body getting a head transplant.

Re:head transplant, or body transplant?

[ducomputergeek]

More over I thought the largest problem today is the fact that our bodies are outliving our minds as more people develop diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's.

Re:head transplant, or body transplant?

[i kan reed]

Our hearts are the first critical thing to go, more often than anything. It's like a metaphor, really.

Re:head transplant, or body transplant?

[50000BTU_barbecue]

Not true. The heart has one trick up its sleeve that engineering can't even come close to. It had to grow itself, in the right place, from a single cell, while containing the code for the whole system.

Good luck with that.

Re:head transplant, or body transplant?

[mcgrew]

Why do artificial knee implants fail so often, then? Why are there no pro sports players with artificial knees? When your knees go, your running days are over; I know people who have them and none would agree with your assessment.

Re:head transplant, or body transplant?

[BitZtream]

Yet no one has designed an industrial pump that can perform at the level the heart does ... with the energy usage a heart has, for as long as it has.

So in short, no, no they haven't made something 'better' than a human heart in any way.

Show me a 120 year old unserviced pump please.

Re:head transplant, or body transplant?

[jxander]

To be fair, our existing knees don't actually last our entire human lifespan. Much like antique wooden ships (i.e. HMS Victory, Star of India, etc.) pieces are gradually replaced over the years. A few planks here, a new sail there ... eventually the item in question is actually a completely new unit, divorced of any parts from the original.

The cells that comprise your knee have died and been replaced several times over the years. It's just so gradual that we don't notice, and treat these knees as the same knees we had a decade ago.

Re:head transplant, or body transplant?

[Dcnjoe60]

There are no demands for an industrial pump with such a low rate or the ability to last 120 years. If there were, perhaps someone would have made one by now.

Also, the heart is not unserviced. In fact they are continually serviced. I'm not sure the exact turn over, but at least over 10 years every cell in your heart is replaced.

Well then show me a self-repairing pump that doesn't need external maintenance. One that can get the materials it needs from it's surroundings without doing harm to those surroundings, all while not having to shut down for the maintenance to take place.

Some things should not be..

[s.petry]

Morally and ethically, this simply should not happen and should not be pursued. There are boundaries we need to maintain for the safety of humanity.

In essence, this could provide eternal life to someone with enough cash. Typically those are not the most outstanding members of society that hold society's best interests as their own. How many nobles slaughtered their own as well as others for the fountain of youth? Go read a history book!

Re:Some things should not be..

[Intrepid imaginaut]

You are an example of why it shouldn't happen.

Oh okay. I haven't made a laughing stock of a malthusian all week and although it's only Tuesday, there seem to be fewer and fewer of you halfheads roaming the internet lately so I guess I'll take it where I find it.

Most humans are too stupid to realize the implications of longer life.

Good thing we have superior master race philosopher-princes such as yourself to show the way then, eh?

We are ALREADY over populated and unsustainable.

No, we aren't. Nowhere near. There is ample food and fresh water for the entire human race right now and plenty to spare. Where there are shortages the problems are invariably political.

We use energy from the planet faster than it is stored. We REQUIRE this energy to support the population of humans on the planet that is WAY past the point of natural balance.

Energy from the planet? What is that? You want energy it's raining on us from all sides and on high. If you covered a single digit percentage of the unused portions of the Sahara with old fashioned PV cells you could easily supply enough energy for all of Europe. And although I'm sure that a superior intellect such as yourself doesn't need this pointed out, that's not a recommended course of action but an illustration of the universe of insane abundance we live in. NO we do not require oil for transportation, NO we do not require oil for plastics, NO we do not require oil for fucking fertiliser, google the reasons yourself.

What exactly do you think will happen when people live twice as long?

We already know what's going to happen when people start living longer healthier lives, einstein, they have fewer children. Half of the countries in the developed world are already at below replacement birthrates. People stop having children or start having them later.

Do you think some other magical solution is going to pop up when lets us cram even more people into the same space.

We can not feed ourselves now, without oil, and the oil is being used ridiculously faster than its being created.

Oil, oil, oil. Try a little science instead. http://peakoildebunked.blogspot.ie/2007/11/314-peak-oil-and-fertilizer-no-problem.html Boom, headshot.

Hopefully this shock therapy has rattled your teeth enough that you'll think twice before unloading another bladderload on the internet.

The body can affect the mind

[davidwr]

You think the sack of meat below your neck has anything to do with your consciousness?

By consciousness I assume you mean the "personality/soul/essence of your 'being'/whatever you want to call it."

Yes, it does.

I know my "personality" changes a bit when I'm hungry, tired, in physical pain, aroused (re: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3929305&cid=44166849 above), etc. That is, there are things that I would never do when thinking clearly but if I'm starving, fatigued, in pain, aroused, or otherwise operating far below my normal rational though, I might do (and later regret).

The "sack of meat below [my] neck" has a lot to do with this.

If you don't believe me, imagine how your personality would change at least temporarily if you were an 80 year old man who was in chronic pain whose libido left with his prostate removal a decade ago waking up with the body of a healthy 21 year old with a libido to match. You very well might forget your moral compass for a few seconds and make a remark to an attractive member of the hospital staff that you would regret as soon as your brain re-engaged and overrode your new hormones.

Re:The body can affect the mind

[Dahamma]

I know my "personality" changes a bit when I'm hungry, tired, in physical pain, aroused

No, your "personality" doesn't change in response to these stimuli - the definition of personality IS an individual's response patterns to these. You are thinking of "mood".