It's been over a year since he talks about it. And it's about to become a dismal reality. The neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero confirmed to the press and to the world scientific community that he had, a few days ago, realized the first human head transplant. This operation was carried out on two human corpses in China where the man, assisted by surgeon Xiaoping Ren and a team of doctors, was able to set up this transplant operation. Of course, since the announcement, the medical community is unanimous in denouncing "an inhuman operation" that has been controversial for many months.
A successful operation ?
It was during a press conference held in Vienna, Austria, that the Italian Sergio Canavero claimed to have succeeded the unimaginable.
Through a chemical compound called polyethylene glycol, or PEG, the scientist is attempting to repair the damaged spine of various animals. He has already tested the compound on mice, rats and even on a dog. The results are mixed. The experiment on mice was partially conclusive. Out of sixteen mice he had damaged the spinal cord, eight were treated with PEG. To the other eight, the researcher administered a saline solution. In the end, five out of the eight PEG-treated mice survived and found some mobility.
But last Friday, an article in Surgical Neurology International confirmed that the team led by Xiaoping Ren and the Italian neurosurgeon performed a "cephalosomatic anastomosis”. It was at the Harbin Medical University in China that this head transplant between two corpses took place. And for them, it is neither more nor less than a great advance to treat some neuromuscular diseases today incurable. Thus, two teams of five surgeons worked together on the two corpses, in order to prepare the head of the "receiver" for the first while the second treated the body of the "donor".
Below some graphs of the expected operation :
