Head transplant

[Johnuk123]

http://news.sky.com/story/1434435/surgeon-plans-first-human-head-transplant

The first human head transplant could take place in just two years, according to a radical proposal by an Italian surgeon.

Sergio Canavero, from the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, wants the surgery to be used to help extend the lives of people who have suffered degeneration of the muscles and nerves or those who have advanced cancer.

Really it's a body transplant onto a living head, quite a good idea as a lot of people would like a new body.

 

[Oswyntail]

Really? And where do they get a supply of healthy donor bodies from?

 

[higthomas]

Wow, I initially assumed that he was crazy, but it seems quite serious. New Scientest have done an article on it, and his ideas have been set out in a scientific manner.

Crazy stuff, and kind of scary, but cool none the less.

 

[Busaholic]

Richard Branson is probably already taking bookings.

 

[Johnuk123]

Really? And where do they get a supply of healthy donor bodies from?

From people who've died of head injuries and anything not affecting them from the neck down.

 

[Busaholic]

Serious question: legally,ethically etc which identity will this 'new' person have, the head part or the rest of body part? I see this being a huge hunting ground for lawyers if it ever comes about, which I sincerely hope it won't.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Yeah right.

They can't even sort out chronic back pain or repair damaged nerves, so connecting new nerves to an old body is going to be something else.

And that's before we even consider the ethics.

 

[AM9]

Richard Branson is probably already taking bookings.

Well it's been a regular feature of soaps and other long-running programmes for decades.

 

[TheEdge]

And on this scientifically advanced yet morally and ethically sensive subject my first thought was...

 

[AM9]

And on this scientifically advanced yet morally and ethically sensive subject my first thought was...

That reminds me of the Monty Python cocktail bar sketch talking about Nixons' ****hole transplant.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I was thinking more along the lines of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing...

 

[Springs Branch]

Is there any reason the head can't be transplanted onto a body of the opposite gender?

We might find out if Tiresias, the blind prophet in Greek mythology, was actually right!

 

[D6975]

Is there any reason the head can't be transplanted onto a body of the opposite gender?

We might find out if Tiresias, the blind prophet in Greek mythology, was actually right!

If he was I might give it serious consideration....

 

[Jonny]

Why do I think of "X Files: I Want to Believe"?

 

[Tony2215]

Does this mean we will soon have head stores.

Ben Mitchell in eastenders has had several head transplants so it must be true.

 

[pinkpanther]

Is there any reason the head can't be transplanted onto a body of the opposite gender?

We might find out if Tiresias, the blind prophet in Greek mythology, was actually right!

Assuming the whole thing isn't junk science no - though the brain being exposed to sex hormones it isn't used to may have undesirable consequences which may well turn out to require subsequent medical intervention.

Basically, it's complicated. Giving Oestrogens to someone with a male brain tends not to make them feel particularly good, and vice versa (though that's a gross generalisation, it's a reasonable starting point based on the medical evidence).

 

[Bungle73]

Yeah right.

They can't even sort out chronic back pain or repair damaged nerves, so connecting new nerves to an old body is going to be something else.

And that's before we even consider the ethics.

They reattach violently severed limbs and fingers all the time, and have given people donor limbs. It's just an extension of that.