Possibilities of Human Head Transplant Emerge

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It may sound like a horror movie, but the American Academy of Neurological and orthopedic Surgeons during the 39^th annual conference in Annapolis, MD, in June, and in this conference, said that, Itlian surgeons will announce the updated plans to conduct the first ever human head transplant, and they said that, this will take almost two years to complete this plan of transplantation.

Dr. Sergio Canavero, of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation group in Italy, believes the revolutionary procedure named Heaven Gemini- could save the lives of the people with metastatic cancer or muscle wasting disorder like muscular dystrophy.

Dr.Canavero proposed the medical news in July 2013, back then, he noted that there are some challenges for the human head transplantation, and this will also lead to the reconnecting of the cords, and this will prevent the immune system from rejecting the head. In a journal surgical neurology international, Dr, Canavero says that there are lots of challenges, which can be overcome, and with this, noting that recent animals studies have confirmed human head transplantations as feasible.

There have been lots of efforts made in the past, in 1970, there was a first try in US, by the US neurosurgeon, named Dr.Robert, Who transplanted the brain of monkey’s head into another monkey’s body. Though the animal was able to see, taste, hear, and smell. Surgeons could not be able to connect the spinal cord with the to its head, that was the reason, monkey got paralyzed, as there was not presence of technology for the connection of the spinal cord to the brain of the monkey. This monkey could live for the 9 days only following the procedure, after that, animal’s immune system rejected the its head.

Moreover, researchers believe that, rejection of immune system can be reduced through the medicines, and this is possible at all, and not a challenging as it was before. William Methews, who is a chairman of American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeon told the new scientist medicine Magazine that the immune response to the head transplant should be manageable. The system, we have developed for the reduction of the immune rejection has been developed a quite long ago.

There was also a study perfrmed in 2014 in Germany, in which German researchers successfully reconnected the severed spinal cords of the rats, and suggesting that this procedure could be applied as well for the transplantation of the human brain.

Heaven Gemini Procedure would involve the Following:

With this procedure, both of the recipient’s head and donor’s body will be placed in hypothermia mode for approximately 45 minutes, which will offer the proper oxygen to bot bodies, so there should not be any chance of damage due to lack of oxygen.