First human head transplant within 2 years? I was hoping this was The Onion.

[pnwmom]

Seriously. We have pregnant women that don't get enough food to eat and children dying of cancer and we're thinking about spending scarce research dollars on this?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530103.700-first-human-head-transplant-could-happen-in-two-years.html?page=1#.VPPMJUKJndk

The first attempt at a head transplant was carried out on a dog by Soviet surgeon Vladimir Demikhov in 1954. A puppy's head and forelegs were transplanted onto the back of a larger dog. Demikhov conducted several further attempts but the dogs only survived between two and six days.

The first successful head transplant, in which one head was replaced by another, was carried out in 1970. A team led by Robert White at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, transplanted the head of one monkey onto the body of another. They didn't attempt to join the spinal cords, though, so the monkey couldn't move its body, but it was able to breathe with artificial assistance. The monkey lived for nine days until its immune system rejected the head. Although few head transplants have been carried out since, many of the surgical procedures involved have progressed. "I think we are now at a point when the technical aspects are all feasible," says Canavero.

This month, he published a summary of the technique he believes will allow doctors to transplant a head onto a new body (Surgical Neurology International, doi.org/2c7). It involves cooling the recipient's head and the donor body to extend the time their cells can survive without oxygen. The tissue around the neck is dissected and the major blood vessels are linked using tiny tubes, before the spinal cords of each person are cut. Cleanly severing the cords is key, says Canavero.

The recipient's head is then moved onto the donor body and the two ends of the spinal cord – which resemble two densely packed bundles of spaghetti – are fused together. To achieve this, Canavero intends to flush the area with a chemical called polyethylene glycol, and follow up with several hours of injections of the same stuff. Just like hot water makes dry spaghetti stick together, polyethylene glycol encourages the fat in cell membranes to mesh.

SNIP

[RKP5637]

1. I'm all for science, heavy science background, but this freaks me out. IMO there are many

priorities before this. I don't think the right answer is we need to do it because we can.

[immoderate]

2. Easy for you to say. You probably HAVE a head.

--imm

[el_bryanto]

3. So you think Sergio Canavero should be spending his time better?

He's teaching at Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group it looks like - i assume he's paid by the Government of Italy.

According to the article "He wants to use the surgery to extend the lives of people whose muscles and nerves have degenerated or whose organs are riddled with cancer."

I'm not saying it's not troubling from other aspects; where are they going to get the bodies if this procedure is successful. But I'm not sure the cost is the big issue here.

Bryant

[longship]

7. Or, for those who want to drink twice the number of Pangalactic Gargle Blasters.

Of course, it helps if one has three arms, two for the drinks (one for each head), and one to run interference.

Observe:


Let me know when science has that together. Then, meet me at Milliways. I will pay. Maybe.

[pnwmom]

17. According to the article, Canavero "would like to do the experiment in the U.S.,

but believes it might be easier to get approval somewhere in Europe."

Easier somewhere else? Understatement of the year.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530103.700-first-human-head-transplant-could-happen-in-two-years.html?page=1#.VPPMJUKJndk

Another hurdle will be finding a country to approve such a transplant. Canavero would like to do the experiment in the US, but believes it might be easier to get approval somewhere in Europe. "The real stumbling block is the ethics," he says. "Should this surgery be done at all? There are obviously going to be many people who disagree with it."

Nick Rebel, executive director of the US branch of the International College of Surgeons, says that although his organisation, along with the AANOS, is giving Canavero a stage, it is not sponsoring his ideas. "We're creating a venue for him to launch the project. There will be a lot of top international surgeons at the conference and we shall see whether it is well received or not."

Mathews is more enthusiastic about the project. "I embrace the concept of spinal fusion," he says, "and I think there are a lot of areas that a head transplant can be used, but I disagree with Canavero on the timing. He thinks it's ready, I think it's far into the future."

Canavero is philosophical. "This is why I first spoke about the idea two years ago, to get people talking about it," he says. "If society doesn't want it, I won't do it. But if people don't want it in the US or Europe, that doesn't mean it won't be done somewhere else. I'm trying to go about this the right way, but before going to the moon, you want to make sure people will follow you."

[ND-Dem]

25. i'm sure in the brave new world that's coming they'll have ways of getting their bodies

[yortsed snacilbuper]

4. Ted Williams head needs a body!

What It Took To Get Ted Williams's Head Off His Body

The technicians then started to drain blood and water from Ted's body in what Alcor called a "washout," replacing them with glycerol and another cryoprotectant known as B2C, which was used for the head only. Then, using a perforator, a standard neurological tool that looks like an electric drill, a surgeon and his assistant bored two small holes on either side of Ted's skull so that the surface of the brain could be examined during the perfusion process to guard against swelling. Small wire sensors were inserted into each hole to be used to detect cracking of the skull during the freezing process later.

Soon, the surgeon announced that he was ready to perform the "cephalic isolation." This meant Ted Williams's head was now ready to be cut off. The surgeon took out a carving knife and began to cut—starting below Ted's neck, slicing through tissue and bone, working his way down through the sixth cervical vertebrae, at the top of the spine. At one point, the going slow, the surgeon remarked that he wished he had an electric knife. Finally, he switched to a bone saw to finish the job, and at 9:17 p.m., Mountain time, the head of the greatest hitter who ever lived had been sliced off.

http://deadspin.com/what-it-took-to-get-ted-williamss-head-off-his-body-1475054922

[IDemo]

12. I just finished reading Billy Crystal's book

In it, he said that Ted Williams's frozen head is still batting .315.

[madokie]

5. Which one would you want to keep

be my luck they've fuck up the head transplant one and I'd wind up with my body on a fucking republiCONs head. LOL

[L0oniX]

6. Maybe there is hope for Republicans after all ...as long as they can afford the operation.

[treestar]

8. We can start with Billo

and go on to Joni Ernst and Sarah Palin. Thanks, Obama.

[kairos12]

13. Billo reported he was at that event in 1970, he said it was heady stuff.

[Kalidurga]

9. I am okay with this

yes it is freaky in a lot of ways no doubt. I think they should focus on what it would take to transplant a human head on a non-organic body as someone asked earlier where are they going to get the bodies I don't think there will be enough people with head trauma to donate their bodies so that leaves robotics as the other possible source.

[drm604]

11. That may be a lot more difficult.

How do you keep the head alive on top of a robotic body? It will require blood, or something similar, carrying oxygen and nutrients, and it will require an immune system to protect it from infections.

[Kalidurga]

16. I know it would be much more difficult

maybe impossible, but it does take away some of the other obvious problems like where to you get the human bodies. Because my guess is that the people who have functioning brains, but the rest of their body is diseased or not functioning well far out number people who die or become vegetative because of head trauma.

[ND-Dem]

26. plenty of poor people in the world, and plenty of people who'll do anything to make a buck,

and plenty of people who'll pay for what they want and aren't too scrupulous about where it comes from.

[drm604]

10. This raises lot's of ethical issues.

Where do the bodies come from? That's just an extension of the current problem of there not being enough brain dead donors for the organs we need. This will make that problem worse. Do we save one patient by giving them an entire new body, or do we save 5 or 6 or 7 with the 2 lungs (one per patient), the two kidneys (again, one per patient), the heart, the liver, the pancreas, and maybe other things?

Long term, I can imagine growing new organs and even entire bodies from the patients' stem cells. Imagine a world where the body can always be replaced and the only real death is when the brain itself deteriorates.

[Blue Owl]

14. Sew many indeed...

n/t

[3catwoman3]

15. This creeps me out.

And I agree that there would be better ways to spend research dollars.

[AZ Progressive]

18. You guys don't get it, do you?

Rich would be able to pay to "not die" if they had a disease that affects the lower body that is threatening their life. Or just purely trying to live for as long as possible.

[pnwmom]

24. That's part of why the idea is so repulsive. n/t

[ND-Dem]

27. maybe they get it but don't want to admit it.

[Orrex]

37. I can't believe that this isn't the first thing that occurs to anyone who reads the article

Also, there would still presumably be some sort of transplant review committee. If someone agrees to be an organ donor, the committee might be more inclined to use that body's organs to save 12 people than to use the entire body to save one person.

Money talks, of course, but this sure as hell doesn't sound like the quick-fix that would-be immortals are looking for.

[BlueJazz]

19. I don't like this at all. No sireee.. Next thing you damn perverts will want to try ...

...to put your head on a sheep or dog. Besides...this foolishness has already been done. Saw it with a human head and a Fly body. Can still hear the damn thing..Help Me! ....Help Me!...

[undeterred]

20. There was a movie made about this subject in 1986 called "Who is Julia?"

Last edited Mon Mar 2, 2015, 01:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Its a pretty good idea of what kind of psychological and ethical issues are posed by this for the patient.

[Orrex]

38. Actually, another movie in 1986 explored the issue from the body-donor side

Read all about this fact-based drama HERE.

[Turbineguy]

21. I suppose it's better than

trying to clone Ronald Reagan a bunch of times.

[McCamy Taylor]

22. Really limited usefulness since the person will be a quadraplegic. Probably only useful for

existing quadriplegics whose bodies are so riddled with bed sores that they are in danger of failing. You would have to find a fresh body from a brain dead donor---say a motorcyclist---and attach the brain intact person's head to the heart, lungs, kidneys and other vital organs. But there would be no way to get the spinal cord to work again and even things like the Vagus nerve which is a Cranial Nerve that affects the heart and viscera would be difficult to hook up.

Christopher Reeve would have been a potential candidate, I guess. His body failed while his brain was still working. However, the new body would not have been able to move. And he would have had to take antirejection drugs which would have lowered his immune system making him even more prone to bed sores and infections.

That crap about super gluing the spine together is just plain silly. If you want quadriplegics to walk, you are better off investing in robotics.

[pnwmom]

23. This mad scientist thinks he could get his subject up and walking again within a year.

If so, why doesn't he use his techniques on people who are paralyzed right now?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530103.700-first-human-head-transplant-could-happen-in-two-years.html?page=1#.VPQRPEKJndl

When the recipient wakes up, Canavero predicts they would be able to move and feel their face and would speak with the same voice. He says that physiotherapy would enable the person to walk within a year. Several people have already volunteered to get a new body, he says.

The trickiest part will be getting the spinal cords to fuse. Polyethylene glycol has been shown to prompt the growth of spinal cord nerves in animals, and Canavero intends to use brain-dead organ donors to test the technique. However, others are sceptical that this would be enough. "There is no evidence that the connectivity of cord and brain would lead to useful sentient or motor function following head transplantation," says Richard Borgens, director of the Center for Paralysis Research at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

If polyethylene glycol doesn't work, there are other options Canavero could try. Injecting stem cells or olfactory ensheathing cells – self-regenerating cells that connect the lining of the nose to the brain – into the spinal cord, or creating a bridge over the spinal gap using stomach membranes have shown promise in helping people walk again after spinal injury. Although unproven, Canavero says the chemical approach is the simplest and least invasive.

[ryan_cats]

32. I'm glad you mentioned this

I'm glad you mentioned this. Until doctors can fix spinal injuries, this is going nowhere fast although I'm sure it's giving hope to Cheney.

[Kablooie]

28. Hordes of Frankenstein super-rich people will be stumbling around the landscape soon.

Better start polishing your pitchforks.

[Inkfreak]

29. This has already been done. Heres the documentary about it.

https://m.

[Vinca]

30. I'm afraid some people must come to grips with the notion of "death."

Sticking your old, gray, wrinkly head on a 20 year old body is not the answer. This may someday be possible, but it "just ain't right."

[maxrandb]

31. That Son of a Bitch Van Owen!!

[Amishman]

33. I think this is a good thing since we will learn many things in the process

The benefit is not the procedure itself, but what they learn in the process. That new knowledge could be helpful in assisting people with other kinds of spinal injuries.

[pnwmom]

35. I think they should just concentrate that money and effort on spinal cord injuries. nt

[fadedrose]

34. medical science has reached its apex

You'd think they've cured cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's, and a myriad of other painful diseases. Doctors are bored with replacing hearts, arms, legs, and reducing butts, noses, wrinkles, the results of disease and war, poor life choices?

I talked to our dog about his and she does not want another head, nor does she want to give another dog hers.

[cyberswede]

36. Wouldnt tha really be a whole-body transplant?

Since the consciousness resides in the head?

[McCamy Taylor]

39. No, the cranial nerves of the original will still be attached to the head.

Good luck trying to remove a brain and then hook up the cranial nerves to the donor body.