Italian neuroscientist Dr. Sergio Canavero made headlines [in 2015] 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….
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“Removing all the sick parts but the head would do a great job in my case,” Spiridonov [said]…“I couldn’t see any other way to treat myself.”
Many scientists have spoken out against Canavero and Ren’s plans, accusing them of promoting junk science and creating false hopes. One critic went so far as to say the scientists should be charged with murder if the patient dies, a very likely outcome.
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Related on the SLP
Canavero has said the transplant…would have a “90 percent plus” chance of success.
Yet many in the scientific community strongly disagree.
“It is both rotten scientifically and lousy ethically,” [stated] Arthur Caplan….
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Russian man volunteers for first human head transplant
