Eric Locke and Georgia Pappas
Staff Writers
This December, a Russian man by the name of Valery Spiridonov, was going to receive the world’s first ever human head transplant. This may seem like a story out of a science fiction novel to some, but to Italian Neuroscientist Dr. Sergio Canavero it’s a reality. Dr. Canavero made headlines back in 2015 when he announced that he will perform the multimillion dollar operation.
Valery Spiridonov, who planned to have the surgery performed this December, decided to back out after two years of planning. Spiridonov acknowledged that he lost hope for a new body free from disabilities and said his dreams will never happen.
Spiridonov suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann Disease, which breaks down muscles and causes the destruction of nerve cells that help mechanical functions. Spiridonov states in an interview with Daily Mail, “I cannot rely on my Italian colleague, I have to take my health into my own hands.”
Spiridonov says that he will take his health on a different route and receive a conventional spinal surgery that will not cure his rare disease but at least improve the quality of his life.With about 12,500 spinal cord injuries occurring every year in the U.S., Dr. Canavero is not the only scientist searching for a way to fix them. In the 1960s, L.W. Freeman experimented on various animals including dogs and rats, testing whether spinal cords would ever repair themselves naturally, which was found to be possible in some cases.
The discoveries by Freeman were quite impressive and have impacted Canavero’s research and ideas for the procedure. Canavero stated that Freeman’s work “shone light on the path,” inspiring and providing him with a better idea about less-popular spinal cord research.
After researching, Canavero believes that the main idea to a successful procedure is polyethylene glycol, or PEG. which is a type of gel that drastically increases spinal cord fusion. By making a clean cut and applying the gel, Canavero hypothesizes that the gel will allow the cords to fuse, which would create the necessary pathway for brain signals to travel throughout other areas in the body.
With all of these positive factors about the surgery come negatives. Many individuals, including Jerry Silver, a Case Western Reserve University professor of neurosciences, have concerns with the transplant.
Silver worried about the pain that the patient will undergo even if the procedure is successful. "Every muscle, the bones, everything has been severed," Silver said to Newsweek. "Can you imagine the pain from all those cut things? That's the worst."
No matter what the critics are stating, Canavero is prepared to perform this transplant and get positive results. "Let's not be stupid-this is a risky surgery. But informed consent means that whoever goes under knows full well what lies ahead and is in such a crippling condition that there is no other strategy for them." he says. Canavero has figured that if the procedure is a success, he will go down in the history of medical research as a huge impact. If it fails, he says he will try it again, believing that is the only way to move forward.
