The topic revolving around the upcoming human head transplant continues to spark a debate among scientists around the world. Transplanting a rat head is one thing, but messing around with human physiology is a very different manner. After an Italian scientist released a paper regarding the rat head transplant, the scientific sector is almost up in arms over this discovery.
Head Transplants Are All The Rage Right Now
It has been quite an intriguing week for science, to say the least. A new research paper has been unveiled which claims to document the successful head transplant between two rats. Rest assured this paper has been met with a ton of criticism and skepticism, even though the evidence provided seems genuine enough. Some people even see this development as a big step toward human head transplant surgery.
However, not everyone sees things that way, as was to be expected. We have known about an upcoming human head transplant for quite some time now. In fact, the patients are even being trained in virtual reality to make this transition as seamless as possible. The fact that a team of scientists can do the same thing with rat heads goes to show there is some merit to the concept of head transplants moving forward.
To be more specific this transplant was made possible thanks to the cephalosomatic anastomosis technique. This involves anesthetizing the patient, cutting the spinal cord and keeping the brain alive until the head can be transplanted. This procedure is performed by Sergio Canavero, the same person who will conduct the world’s first human head transplant at the end of 2017.
Up until this point, the idea of keeping organs alive and intact during the transplant has been considered impossible when it comes to a brain. It turns out that the process is not as insurmountable as originally assumed. Then again, knowing something is physically possible does not mean it won’t have disastrous effects in the long run. Some professors even think this is a pointless exercise of playing God.
Some people may argue this is an impressive feat of science, and it is in a way. However, it does not solve the primary issues everyone foresees when it comes to head transplants. The nerves can be reconnected somehow, yet they may not regenerate properly in the long run. This is especially true when it comes to human hosts, as a disconnected spinal cord often leads to losing the ability to regenerate neurons.
Rest assured this is not the last debate we will hear regarding head transplants. It is a very disturbing topic for most scientists, and the potential complications are impossible to predict. The viability of this technology remains to be determined from a long-term point of view. Furthermore, there are ethical and social factors to take into account. Still, the concept of a human head transplant sparks everyone’s imagination, in a weird way.
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