rockin'robin
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Heads up, guys: This Russian computer scientist will become the first human guinea pig attempting to have his noggin chopped off and surgically placed onto another body.
Sound like science fiction? Absolutely. Creepy, but cool? Definitely.
While Valerie Spiridonov has previously announced his intent to undergo the procedure in April, we now have a firm date on when it’ll all go down. Mark your calendars for December 2017, because that when Spiridonov, who is desperately in need of a new body, says it’ll all go down. He suffers from a genetic muscle-wasting condition called Werdnig-Hoffman disease, which has confined him to a wheelchair.
“When I realized that I could participate in something really big and important, I had no doubt left in my mind and started to work in this direction,” Spiridonov told Central European News. “The only thing I feel is the sense of pleasant impatience, like I have been preparing for something important all my life and it is starting to happen.”
But why is he waiting that long?
Spiridonov said “two years is the time frame needed to verify all scientific calculations and plan the procedure’s details.”
That procedure, which will be performed by Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero, will take up to 36 hours, and will require cooler heads to prevail.
Seriously, Spiridonov’s head will need to be cooled — as well as the donor body — to extend the amount of time both can survive without oxygen.
He said he feels a “pleasant impatience” and is looking forward to restoring his independence.
But it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know the odds could be stacked against him, considering the huge risks and complications that could arise.
While it’s never been done on a human before, it was attempted in 1970 with two rhesus monkeys. It went about as well as you’d expect.
Dr. Jerry Silver was present while his colleague, Dr. Robert White, performed the feat. In 2013, he told CBS News that head transplants are “bad science.”
Here’s why:
“I remember that the head would wake up, the facial expressions looked like terrible pain and confusion and anxiety in the animal. The head will stay alive, but not very long,” the Case Western Reserve University neurologist told CBSNews.com. When doctors attempted to feed the re-connected head, the food fell to the floor. “It was just awful. I don’t think it should ever be done again.”
The monkey was unable to breathe on its own and died eight days later because the body rejected the head. Or did the head reject the body?
In an interview with The Guardian, Spiridonov said he’s well aware of the risks. Even if he dies, Spiridonov takes comfort in knowing it could provide “huge amounts of data” to the medical community and open doors for future attempts.
*watch the video*
http://national.suntimes.com/nation...6872/coming-2017-worlds-first-head-transplant
Sound like science fiction? Absolutely. Creepy, but cool? Definitely.
While Valerie Spiridonov has previously announced his intent to undergo the procedure in April, we now have a firm date on when it’ll all go down. Mark your calendars for December 2017, because that when Spiridonov, who is desperately in need of a new body, says it’ll all go down. He suffers from a genetic muscle-wasting condition called Werdnig-Hoffman disease, which has confined him to a wheelchair.
“When I realized that I could participate in something really big and important, I had no doubt left in my mind and started to work in this direction,” Spiridonov told Central European News. “The only thing I feel is the sense of pleasant impatience, like I have been preparing for something important all my life and it is starting to happen.”
But why is he waiting that long?
Spiridonov said “two years is the time frame needed to verify all scientific calculations and plan the procedure’s details.”
That procedure, which will be performed by Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero, will take up to 36 hours, and will require cooler heads to prevail.
Seriously, Spiridonov’s head will need to be cooled — as well as the donor body — to extend the amount of time both can survive without oxygen.
He said he feels a “pleasant impatience” and is looking forward to restoring his independence.
But it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know the odds could be stacked against him, considering the huge risks and complications that could arise.
While it’s never been done on a human before, it was attempted in 1970 with two rhesus monkeys. It went about as well as you’d expect.
Dr. Jerry Silver was present while his colleague, Dr. Robert White, performed the feat. In 2013, he told CBS News that head transplants are “bad science.”
Here’s why:
“I remember that the head would wake up, the facial expressions looked like terrible pain and confusion and anxiety in the animal. The head will stay alive, but not very long,” the Case Western Reserve University neurologist told CBSNews.com. When doctors attempted to feed the re-connected head, the food fell to the floor. “It was just awful. I don’t think it should ever be done again.”
The monkey was unable to breathe on its own and died eight days later because the body rejected the head. Or did the head reject the body?
In an interview with The Guardian, Spiridonov said he’s well aware of the risks. Even if he dies, Spiridonov takes comfort in knowing it could provide “huge amounts of data” to the medical community and open doors for future attempts.
*watch the video*
http://national.suntimes.com/nation...6872/coming-2017-worlds-first-head-transplant
