This sounds impossible, but I'd probably think a heart transplant was impossible if they hadn't already been done so who knows.
Of course, the other major hurdle both doctor and patient face is the expected cost of the operation, which could easily stretch beyond $10 million.
Plus, I don't think it'll be that easy to come across a suitable donor body where everything but the head is in good condition.
But it takes two to transplant .... who wants a terminal muscle disease ?
...maybe someone with something WORST than a terminal muscle disease....
there is no way this works, is there?
Science can do amazing things but cutting a head off one person attaching it to another body is just madness.
I imagine they need a strike of lightning to bring back to life?
Excuse my ignorance, but is it really possible to decapitate someone without killing them and then keep them alive long enough to perform any kind of proper surgery?
If this works, I'm taking the rocks body.
Of course, the other major hurdle both doctor and patient face is the expected cost of the operation, which could easily stretch beyond $10 million.
Hmm.. Can't be that different from installing a new CPU. Just don't bend the pins, doctor.
The problem isn't reattaching a body part. You can repurpose blood vessels easily.
The problem is neurons are very specific to their function (one does muscle movement, another does pain perception, etc) and there are millions of them. Even if you lined up the spinal cords well, there's no way to make sure the muscle neuron from the transplanted brain connects to the correct muscle neuron axon in the transplant body.
You can "glue" it together, but apart from the already stated misconnection problem, the neurons in the central nervous system (everything in the skull and spinal cord) do not repair themselves well.
So, yes, at best you're a quadriplegic. At worst, of course, the patient will die. And if I had to guess, this person will probably die. Given there is only a couple of minutes window until brain death when the brain is deprived of oxygen and blood flow, and with this being an incredibly complex procedure (how are they going to reconnect all the blood vessels while keeping the brain perfused with oxygenated blood? How are they going to keep the host body alive without a brain?) I'm almost certain of it.
Freaky Friday made swapping easier and better, just sleep and it happens over night
But hmmmm the person getting his body is getting a body with a disease , don't they know?
Also, I know organ transplants have chances of rejection. Can a body reject a head?
Seriously though, I'd like to see a breakdown of the costs.
It can and most likely would reject.
this was a long time ago and i dont even know if im remembering correctly but i saw a story about a monkey getting a head transplant but it ended up paralyzed from the neck down.
Also, I know organ transplants have chances of rejection. Can a body reject a head?
The first successful head transplant, in which one head was replaced by another, was carried out in 1970. A team led by Robert White at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, transplanted the head of one monkey onto the body of another. They didn't attempt to join the spinal cords, though, so the monkey couldn't move its body, but it was able to breathe with artificial assistance. The monkey lived for nine days until its immune system rejected the head.
http://www.newscientist.com/article...t-could-happen-in-two-years.html#.VScMT_mUeSo
So the monkey was not paralysed as such; they didn't attempt to join the motoneurons, autonomic neurons, etc., but eventually immune rejection occurred.
I wonder how they are going to prevent the immune system from reacting? Immunosuppressants? Can't be that simple -_-
If this works, I'm taking the rocks body.
What a shitty immune system, doesn't it know it needs that head?
You're only looking at half the problem. Sure there are motor neurons, but we're talking about connecting the autonomic nervous system too. How is this guy's brain going to tell another body's lungs to breathe, its heart to beat, etc, etc.
http://www.newscientist.com/article...t-could-happen-in-two-years.html#.VScMT_mUeSo
So the monkey was not paralysed as such; they didn't attempt to join the motoneurons, autonomic neurons, etc., but eventually immune rejection occurred.
I wonder how they are going to prevent the immune system from reacting? Immunosuppressants? Can't be that simple -_-
This part is so weird. I see that this is based on the idea that guinea pigs recover faster after a spinal cord injury after you inject them with the stuff... but also, polyethylene glycol is lube. I'm assuming the guy has done research on the stuff and isn't just assuming he can find a way to apply its supposed regenerative abilities to severed necks and heads?Just like hot water makes dry spaghetti stick together, polyethylene glycol encourages the fat in cell membranes to mesh.
The problem isn't reattaching a body part. You can repurpose blood vessels easily.
The problem is neurons are very specific to their function (one does muscle movement, another does pain perception, etc) and there are millions of them. Even if you lined up the spinal cords well, there's no way to make sure the muscle neuron from the transplanted brain connects to the correct muscle neuron axon in the transplant body.
You can "glue" it together, but apart from the already stated misconnection problem, the neurons in the central nervous system (everything in the skull and spinal cord) do not repair themselves well.
So, yes, at best you're a quadriplegic. At worst, of course, the patient will die. And if I had to guess, this person will probably die. Given there is only a couple of minutes window until brain death when the brain is deprived of oxygen and blood flow, and with this being an incredibly complex procedure (how are they going to reconnect all the blood vessels while keeping the brain perfused with oxygenated blood? How are they going to keep the host body alive without a brain?) I'm almost certain of it.
If this works, I'm taking the rocks body.
I think this will be possible with cutting edge stem cell research and unlimited money. So basically rich motherfuckers will get access to this technology but everyone else..well, our bodies will be useful to rich motherfuckers when they need a new body.
How would they do something like that without making the guy a complete tetraplegic?
If this works, I'm taking the rocks body.
I wonder what happens when an immune system rejects a head. A fucking head.
"He says it is possible to severe the heads..."