The first ever human head transplant may happen this December. Dr. Sergio Canavero, the proponent surgeon for the said operation is optimistic that by end of this year, a successful head transplant would change the medical society forever.
Plans for the controversial surgery was in gestation for years. In an interview with the BBC, Dr. Canavero shows optimism on his project and plans to have it done by the end of 2017. He told reporters that the entire operation would need a team of 150 surgeons and not less than 36 hours of surgery to complete the operation. The surgery inched the very boundary between medical innovation and ethical behavior, as the surgery may mean the death of the patient.
Dr. Canavero calls the operation, Head Anastomosis Venture or HEAVEN. It basically means the joining of two separate body part. Many are skeptical and even abhorred by the doctor's proposal. However, he is extremely confident about the project and is awaiting legal go signals to put his plans into motion.
According to the Cavalier Daily, the volunteer patient is Valery Spiridonov, a 31-year-old Russian who suffers from motor neuron degeneration and Spinal atrophy due to the disease called Werdnig-Hoffman disease. The disease left him paralyzed and he is willing to undergo the controversial operation. Dr. Canavero pointed out that the procedure itself was already detailed years ago, but the only thing missing was the technology to reattach the spinal cord after it has been severed. In a TEDx talk, the doctor pointed out that due to the limited technology before, head transplants on animals were unsuccessful, most were paralyzed after the operation.
However, due to the advancement of technology and with the help of procedures he himself developed, the operation, for him, is now plausible. The surgery is set on December of 2017, however for the mean time, he will need to deflect every ethical question hurled at him by people who do not support such a controversial medical operation.
