NEWS

FIRST HUMAN HEAD TRANSPLANT

This year, in 2017, will be done the first human head transplant by the neuroscientist Dr. Sergio Canavero and the surgeon Dr. Xiaoping Ren. In August 2016 they found a volunteer to subject himself to this dangerous operation: Valery Spiridonov. Spiridonov is a Russian man who suffers an illness called Werdnig-Hoffman Disease, which is a genetic disorder that affects to the muscles. Due to this illness, Spiridonov has to use a wheelchair and he almost can’t move.

How will this transplant be done? The first step is to find a suitable donor for Spiridonov. The donor has to be a dead young man, to use his body, and the family has to agree with it. Once the donor has been found, the operation starts: a surgical team will cool Spiridonov’s body to 50 degrees Fahrenheit to delay tissue death in the brain for an hour. Then, simultaneously, two groups of surgeons will decapitate both heads and will exchange them. Once the swap is done, Spiridonov will be in coma for three or four weeks to ensure everything works perfectly.

Even though this transplant may sound futuristic and likely to fail, Canavero has claimed that has a 90% of possibilities to success. For its part, the patient is happy and enthusiastic about the surgery; but there have been scientists that are against it. These scientists argue that Canavero and Ren are promoting junk science and also creating false expectations. Another scientist, Arthur Caplan, said that is not ethical. To answer to these attacks, Canavero said that with the head transplant it will automatically transplant the whole self with the mind, personality and consciousness of the patient. Despite these words, Anto Cartolovni and Antonio Spagnolo, two Italian bioethicists, said that “our cognition is an embodied cognition” and that “the body is a real part in the formation of human self”. Also, there is another ethical issue: if Spiridonov wanted to reproduce with his new body, his children will have the donor’s genetic information. Therefore, the donor’s family would have rights on the kid?

In spite of the criticism, this operation will take place in China or another country outside Europe or the United States if finally it is approved.

PERSONAL OPINION:

This is a controversial issue to talk about. On one hand, I see this transplant in a positive way, because it will help Valery Spiridonov to have a better life. He ensured he is excited about the operation and he hopes to survive and get to live better and happier. So, looking in it that way, this transplant sounds positive. But, on the other hand, there’s this ethical issue that makes me reconsider things; especially the issue about the children. If he decides to have kids, genetically talking they will not be his children. But, well, if the patient is happy and the family of the donor too, I don’t see it so bad.

NEW WORDS:

Recruit: contractar
Cognition: coneixement
Offspring: fill/filla


Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-man-volunteers-for-first-human-head-transplant/