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Not Frankenstein: Doctor Plans World’s First Head Transplant [VIDEO]

Derek Hunter Contributor
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It’s been the stuff of science fiction since the start of the genera, but if one doctor has his way it will be science fact soon. Italy’s Dr. Sergio Canavero told an audience at a medical conference in Annapolis, Md., he is two years away from successfully transplanting a human head from one body to another.

Met with much skepticism from the attending physicians, Canavero claims “I’m ready to go all the way with you. I have a dedicated plan to do it.”

Canavero told the gathering he already has a volunteer for the surgery, “he intends to transplant the head of a disabled Russian man onto a healthy body,” according to the Baltimore Sun.

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Many of the surgeons in attendance met Canavero’s claim with doubt, but not outright dismissal.

Dr. Gene Bolles, a Colorado neurosurgeon, said, “It’s intriguing. A number of years ago, you’d have said that’s impossible.”

The conference was a joint meeting between the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons-United States Section. Chairman of the Board of AANOS, Dr. William Matthews, admitted Canavero’s invite to deliver the keynote address was, in part, due to the controversy of the subject and the speaker. But Williams added, “He is brilliant. His energy and his enthusiasm for his research is also unparalleled.”

Head of bioethics at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, Arthur Caplan, was less than impressed. Caplan, who didn’t attend the conference, told the Sun, “If someone knew how to do what he claims, we would have seen it demonstrated in animals, it would have been published in peer-reviewed journals.”

Dr. Youngsik Moon, a general surgeon from Maryland, was more blunt in his criticism. “Frankly, I don’t know why they put him on the stage here,” Dr. Moon said, adding, “It is not real at this time.”

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