First Human Head Transplant To take Place in 2017

[wyouser]

This appears to be real? Reported on Yahoo News this morning. There is a Russian man who has volunteered. Surgery to be done in China. Will take an estimated 36 hours and carry an $11 million dollar price tag. Anybody run across anything on this? Have we reached a point where this is possible? Can the nervous system be connected?  news.yahoo.com/first-human-head-transplant-place-043905667

[The Captain]

There are some places science shouldn't go.  IMHO this is one of them.

[wyouser]

Yes,I can only imagine the debate over this one. I mean Shelly writes a book about it in the 19th century and we are possibly doing it in the 21st? Is this "Frankensteinish"??

[NancysSummerSip]

I can think of more than a few people who could use a brain transplant. But the whole head? Now that sounds more like Mystery Science Theater 2000 meets Frankenstein. But according to news reports, it is going to happen. The Atlantic, however, refers to the surgery as a body transplant, since the person's identity is in the brain, not the body.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/how-to-perform-a-head-transplant/277519/

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Not entirely surprised it's Russia and China.  They don't tend to have the same ethical qualms that we do in the United States.

I have a feeling this will go about the same way the "human clone" story did.  Just b/c they said they can/will do it doesn't mean it's going to actually happen.   Until I see a guy's head transplanted onto another body and it's independently verified he's alive/healthy then I'm not buying it.

[Tennesseer]

I hope the torso gets along with the head. 

[Opti]

A full body transplant. Scary.

[dannylion]

Sept 16, 2015 11:39:17 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Not entirely surprised it's Russia and China.  They don't tend to have the same ethical qualms that we do in the United States.

I have a feeling this will go about the same way the "human clone" story did.  Just b/c they said they can/will do it doesn't mean it's going to actually happen.   Until I see a guy's head transplanted onto another body and it's independently verified he's alive/healthy then I'm not buying it.

Or the same standards of proof.

I'm picturing some guy with what appears to be a suture line around his neck but no independent medical professionals ever allowed to get close enough to evaluate the patient.

[wyouser]

Sept 16, 2015 14:16:29 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Sept 16, 2015 11:39:17 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Not entirely surprised it's Russia and China.  They don't tend to have the same ethical qualms that we do in the United States.

I have a feeling this will go about the same way the "human clone" story did.  Just b/c they said they can/will do it doesn't mean it's going to actually happen.   Until I see a guy's head transplanted onto another body and it's independently verified he's alive/healthy then I'm not buying it.

Or the same standards of proof.

I'm picturing some guy with what appears to be a suture line around his neck but no independent medical professionals ever allowed to get close enough to evaluate the patient.

You forgot the bolts! The bolts in the neck...hooked to solar panels to power the "creature"

[dannylion]

Sept 16, 2015 14:20:02 GMT -5 wyouser said:

Sept 16, 2015 14:16:29 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Or the same standards of proof.

I'm picturing some guy with what appears to be a suture line around his neck but no independent medical professionals ever allowed to get close enough to evaluate the patient.

You forgot the bolts! The bolts in the neck...hooked to solar panels to power the "creature"

Bolts are so 19th century.  China and Russia are trying to portray themselves as modern nations, the new superpowers of the 21st century. I think bolts would be right out.

Also, since the fall of the Soviet Union and the demise of their military-industrial investment, I doubt Russia would be able to machine bolts to the necessary tolerance to perform in this application. China, maybe, but the metal would be substandard and they would likely crack after a couple of weeks and the head would fall off. 

Nope, I think they're going to go for sutures.

[toomuchreality]

I went to the State fair a week ago. One of the things we decided to do was see the snakewoman. A woman's head attached to a snakes body. The announcement went on about how she had no bones in her body.

I'm about to reveal what we saw upon entering the tent / viewing area, so if you are someone that enjoys this kind of 'entertainment' stop NOW!

We each paid our $1.00 and entered the viewing area (complete with a wire mesh around the entire display, up to the ceiling. I assume this is to keep people from gaining access to the woman (?) and causing harm).

SPOILER: Click to show

There we saw a table with a tablecloth over it (to the floor), with a hole cut out in the center. Someone had sewn / glued(?) (not very well) a tube of stuffed fabric around the outside edges of the table, ending in the center, where a human poked their head up through the hole. It was not a beautiful, glamorous woman with her hair and make-up done. In fact, I can't be sure it was a woman, at all, due to the very dark glasses they had on, as well as a baseball hat. If it was a woman, she did not have notable feminine features. It was not a very well done display.

I admit, I was curious as to how they would do this and it only cost a dollar to go see. I should have saved my dollar.


*When I followed the link in the OP, I didn't find the article. Bummer. I wanted to read it. -I'll google it.

I can't believe I missed this post and am just now seeing it!

[marvholly]

Does it include brains? I know several people I could suggest for the program if it does. (j/k)

[toomuchreality]

Sept 26, 2015 5:15:18 GMT -5 marvholly said:

Does it include brains? I know several people I could suggest for the program if it does. (j/k)

I know several  people  that might benefit  from  a brain transplant!  Do you  suppose they"d have a raffle, to select  the winner of such an event?  

[NoNamePerson]

I can see it now. The brain from someone with the IQ of 170 on the body of someone like Kat Upton. There go all the dumb blonde jokes down the toilet.      


But is anyone really surprised that this could happen? I'm not. "Science fiction" since I was a kid has become a reality in one way or another.  

[mollyanna58]

If someone's spinal column is severed in an accident, the nerves cannot be repaired, and the person winds up paralyzed.  They will have to severe the spinal column while removing the head from his original body.  How do they expect to reconnect all the nerves? 

[Opti]

Warning! Bad joke to follow...

There's a new book out - Cut here, not there. A bestseller among surgeons.

[toomuchreality]

Sept 26, 2015 8:56:46 GMT -5 Opti said:

Warning! Bad joke to follow...

There's a new book out - Cut here, not there. A bestseller among surgeons.

[Virgil Showlion]

I'll believe it when I see it.

Actually, I probably won't. Danny makes an excellent point.

[weltschmerz]

Sept 16, 2015 14:25:26 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Sept 16, 2015 14:20:02 GMT -5 wyouser said:

You forgot the bolts! The bolts in the neck...hooked to solar panels to power the "creature"

Bolts are so 19th century.  China and Russia are trying to portray themselves as modern nations, the new superpowers of the 21st century. I think bolts would be right out.

Also, since the fall of the Soviet Union and the demise of their military-industrial investment, I doubt Russia would be able to machine bolts to the necessary tolerance to perform in this application. China, maybe, but the metal would be substandard and they would likely crack after a couple of weeks and the head would fall off. 

Nope, I think they're going to go for sutures.

ZIPPERS!!

[toomuchreality]

[tigerpause]

IT COULD WORK!!