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Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Russian man volunteers for first human head transplant

While severing someone’s head and attaching it to another person’s body sounds like something straight out of a science fiction or horror movie, some real-life scientists say they are planning to do just that – as early as next year.

Italian neuroscientist Dr. Sergio Canavero made headlines last year when he announced his plans to perform the first human head transplant in 2017. Since then, he’s recruited Chinese surgeon Dr. Xiaoping Ren to work with him, and now has found a volunteer patient for the procedure: a Russian man named Valery Spiridonov.

Spiridonov suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann Disease, a rare and often fatal genetic disorder that breaks down muscles and kills nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that help the body move. Spiridonov is confined to a wheelchair; his limbs are shriveled and his movements essentially limited to feeding himself, typing, and controlling his wheelchair with a joystick.

In its September issue, The Atlantic profiles Spiridonov and the two scientists who hope to perform the experimental – and highly controversial – procedure.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Umm all I can think about is "IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE" RIP Gene W

Anonymous said...

You do what you have to to get a head. Har.

Anonymous said...

Dont loose your head over it.

He was head and shoulders above the rest

Two heads are better then one?

Lets not rush to judgement. I'm sure if we put our two heads together and come up with a solution

Drumroll please


He just wants to get ahead in life

Anonymous said...

It's actually a full body transplant. He keeps his own head.

Anonymous said...

If this works I have a bad feeling that things are gonna get real weird.

Anonymous said...

Monty python.

Anonymous said...

If it works Hillary should go next.