Surgeon Swears Human Head Transplant Isn't a 'Metal Gear Solid' Publicity Stunt

Jason Koebler writes: Dr. Sergio Canavero wants to become the first surgeon to perform a human head transplant. But some discerning gamers noticed that a doctor shown in the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V looks almost exactly like Canavero, leading some to speculate that it's all a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming game. Canavero, however, filed a sworn affidavit with Italian police in which he said Konami illegally stole his likeness, and that he has nothing to do with the game.

Comments

Dubious

[damn_registrars]

I heard he also named his first son up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,a,b,select,start. There just might be something to this conspiracy.

Re:Dubious

[CastrTroy]

See, it couldn't possibly be him, everybody knows the real Konami Code is:

up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,b,a

The Start/Select-Start isn't part of the actual code, but rather just get's you into the game. You need to use Select if you want to play 2 player.

Wrong Wrong Wrong

[OzPeter]

It's not a head transplant .. it's a BODY transplant.

Re:Wrong Wrong Wrong

[slashmydots]

Don't tell that to the body. The body thinks it's a head transplant :P

Re:Wrong Wrong Wrong

[mjm1231]

Let's say we transplant Bob's head onto Steve's body. After the surgery, will Bob say he has a new body, or will Steve say he has a new head? (Hint: don't believe anything Steve says. He's talking through his ass.)

Re:I hope it's a publicity stunt

[Anonymous Coward]

In that case, Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Öz will certainly be recommending on his next show as a miracle weight loss technique.

Translating from the Italian police declaration...

[monkeyzoo]

He declared on April 20 that he received an email from the UK with a link to the YouTube trailer of the game containing his likeness. He thinks they used a video of him from a TED conference as the basis and retouched it. He subsequently began receiving many harassing phone calls from a UK telephone number. He then says he found an Italian language website about the game with a link to a fraudulent Twitter account in his name (he claims to have no Twitter, Facebook, or other social media accounts).

Common sense here folks

[Lucas123]

Medicine has yet to repair a spinal cord injury, but there are people out there who believe some doctor's going to perform a head transplant? Really?

Re:Common sense here folks

[idontgno]

"paralyzed from the neck down" == "suffocating in minutes", since all respiratory impulses are carried on the somatic spinal nerves controlling the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles. Never mind the fact that severed autonomic nerves means no information from or control of any organs: digestive system shuts down, heart never responds to physiologic need and could spontaneously fibrillate... most organ systems shut down.

Sorry, it's absolutely required to effectively re-fuse the entire spinal cord plus the independent segments of the parasympathetic nervous system (such as the vagus nerve) through the dissection plane. Otherwise, you're just attaching a head to a dying body.

Re:I hope it's a publicity stunt

[ShanghaiBill]

A body transplant will kill the recipient.

The body is ALREADY DEAD. They are planning to use the body of someone killed by a head injury, most likely a motorcycle accident. The head is from someone that would otherwise die because of problems with multiple organs (heart, lung, liver, etc.). Nobody is going to die that wouldn't be dead anyway.

Opposing it has nothing to do with superstition.

It is either superstition or ignorance.