THE head transplant frenzy continues. Last year, maverick surgeon Sergio Canavero caused a storm when he revealed his plan to attempt a human head transplant to New 杏吧原创.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that people stop thinking a human head transplant is impossible. It鈥檚 not鈥�
Now, working with others in China and South Korea, he claims to have moved closer to that goal with a series of experiments in animals and human cadavers. These include severing the spinal cords of mice and re-fusing them using a chemical called PEG, and a head transplant of a monkey. Xiaoping Ren at Harbin Medical University, China, connected up the animal鈥檚 blood supply but did not attempt to fuse the spinal cord. The experiment demonstrates that if the head is cooled to 15掳C, a monkey can survive the procedure without experiencing brain injury, Canavero says.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 important that people stop thinking [a human head transplant] is impossible. This is absolutely possible and we鈥檙e working towards it.鈥�
The work will appear in the next few months in Surgery and CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics. New 杏吧原创 has not seen the papers and has not been able verify the latest claims. One of the journal issues will be guest-edited by Ren.
The fact that Canavero has gone public before the papers come out is bound to raise eyebrows. When he first proposed the project, many surgeons said it sounded 鈥渢oo outlandish鈥� to be serious.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭ransplanted head?鈥�