Despite finding ourselves in times of great change, it is difficult to believe that the head of one human being can really be transplanted into the body of another.
However, already in the twentieth century, several scientists investigated the matter. The first was the Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov who in 1954 transplanted the head and front legs of a puppy to the body of an adult German shepherd The dog resulting from the intervention survived less than a week.
Later, some Cleveland researchers, led by Robert J. White and inspired by the works of Demikhov, they transplanted the head of one monkey to the body of another. In this case the result of the intervention was quite successful, since the monkey was able to smell, taste, hear and observe the world of his surroundings. However, in return he was paralyzed from the neck down. As happened in the first case, the monkey barely survived two weeks.
Finally, a Chinese researcher named Xiaoping Ren He performed a similar experiment with rats, which managed to survive one day.
What is the operation about?
It has been stipulated that the operation It will last around 36 hours and will have the participation of more than 100 surgeons Additionally, the operation is expected to cost around $11 million.
The objective of the operation is none other than connecting one patient’s head to another’s body An important fact is that the recipient will not be able to choose the body. Some sources reveal that someone who has suffered an accident or who has been sentenced to death will be selected.
Regarding the specific details of the neurosurgery and although not much information has been revealed, it is known with certainty that they will first have to cut all the structures that connect the head with the patient’s body, including the spinal cord, which contains some 20 million connections. The union that they must make to reestablish connections with the new body will be carried out with the help of a chemical substance called polyethylene glycolwhich facilitates the reconstruction of both bones and nerve fibers.
Sergio Canavero, the Italian neurosurgeon who will direct the operation, affirms that two years are enough to verify all the scientific calculations and complete all the permits, including the approval of the intervention by various bioethical committees.
The attitude of the scientific community towards this intervention is divided into two On the one hand, some researchers consider it a delusion of Canavero, whom they call crazy. On the other hand, other scientists support it and believe that the intervention will represent a door to the future.
Characteristics of the body receptor
Considering that the intervention has already been tested on animals with generally poor results, it is difficult to imagine that anyone would want to voluntarily undergo it.
Valeri Spiridonov is the name of a man who suffers spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a serious degenerative genetic disease that prevents him from moving his limbs except for his hands and head. Generally, 50% of children born with this disease do not survive the first year of life. However, Spiridonov has already turned 30.
As he explains, the operation is his only way out “I have to do it because I don’t have many options. My decision is final, and I don’t plan to change it,” he says. The operation, if successful, could provide you with a body with which you can perform functions such as walking and pick up things, among other motor functions.
We are talking about a head transplant. Although there has not been much debate about the impact and Psychological consequences that such an intervention can cause, it seems important to me to mention some aspects and present some questions that lead readers to reflect.
One of the aspects to take into account is the longevity of people. It is true that in recent decades people’s life expectancy has increased considerably. But how will the fact that some people live on average about 80 years old and that others, thanks to the intervention, live 120 What changes will occur in society as a result of living longer?
The ethical debate comes into play
This is what neurosurgeon Canavero points out, who is creating high expectations about the intervention: “We are one step away from prolonging life indefinitely, since I will be able to give an 80-year-old person a new body so that they can live another 40 years.”
On the other hand also There is some doubt regarding the selection of future receivers Canavero has stated that in principle the operation will only be carried out with people who have no other way out, people with diseases or pathologies that prevent them from moving normally. However, the neurosurgeon has also revealed that he already has 50 candidates willing to transplant his head and that most of these are transsexuals So, where is the limit established? What criteria will be followed to select one person over another? Will these people enter transplant waiting lists or follow an independent line?
Another aspect of equal relevance is the psychological impact which will possibly cause the body change for both the patient and their family and friends. There has been talk about it and the neurosurgeon has stated that “the patient will undergo training with the help of psychologists. For at least six months, before the operation, he will put on glasses that will show his head with a new body. Will this training with glasses be enough to avoid psychological rejection? Will he end up like the first patient who had a hand transplant in 1988 who two years later asked to have it cut off? Can we overcome the psychological rejection of seeing ourselves in a new body?
In relation to the psychological consequences, another piece of information that Canavero has revealed to us is that in the event that the patient who has already undergone surgery decides to have children, The cells from their body will contain the DNA from the donor’s body That is, the children will be born genetically similar to the body but not to the head of the patient.
This could lead to a world in which children will not have to have the genes of their biological parents.
A medical possibility that must open a debate beyond the scientific
In summary, I personally think it is important to ask some questions about the intervention and the changes it may bring for the entire planet. How these changes can influence people both at the nomothetic level and at the ideographic level.
