World’s First Human Head Transplant Could Happen in Next Ten Years

Bruce Mathew, a former clinical lead for neurosurgery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has claimed that the first-ever human head transplants could be achieved by 2030. The neurosurgeon believes that he knows how the feat of moving an individual’s consciousness to another body could be made to work.

Until now, few scientists are striving to make the head transplants a reality that focused on methods that sever the spinal cord. This idea Mr. Mathew, who has carried more than 10,000 surgeries, describes an “utterly ridiculous”.

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‘Due to advances in technology, the first human head transplant could happen by 2030.’

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In today’s world of advancements in nerve surgery, robotics, and stem cell transplants, it is possible to reattach an entire spinal cord and carry out the head transplant successfully by 2030.

“Initially our intention was to just brainstorm an idea and it seemed rather silly, but then I realised, it actually isn’t. If you transplant the brain and keep the brain and spinal cord together it’s actually not impossible,” said Bruce Mathew.

Mr. Mathew explained the possibilities of the head transplant procedure using the advancements in healthcare

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Using the virtual reality system, the patient will be made ready for the surgery and to attach his head to a new body.

• Using robotics and AI, 200 spinal nerves can be connected

• The spinal cord can be taken off so that the whole brain and spinal cord and lumbar sacra can be dropped into a new body.

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Ren Xiaoping, who along with Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero, hope to attempt the procedure within two years, but only if the preparatory research go accordingly.

• It’s difficult to take out the protective membrane of the spinal cord, i.e. dura intact without making a hole in it. This step will take a number of steps, which would happen by 2030.

Mr. Mathew continued “That there are still doubts as to whether the head and spine could be made to successfully integrate with so much of another person’s DNA, and that gut bacteria may need to also be transferred. But he believes stem cell transplants could be used to prevent rejection.”

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“You would take on the DNA of the actual brain and spinal cord, so rather like a bone marrow donor, and you would get rid of donor DNA and then colonise it with that from the person receiving the body,” he told the paper.

“I mean there are huge problems, but it is possible. And you’ve got to remember you’ve got thousands of people in deep freezes, often just heads, and companies who really believe you will one day be able to reawaken them from the dead, cure them of disease, and give them new bodies. In comparison what I’m proposing is fairly conservative.”

The head transplant method helps patients with spinal injuries and degenerative muscle diseases.

Source-Medindia