Surgeon: Full-body transplants could be possible in the next 2 years
Sergio Canavero, a surgeon in Turin, Italy, believes that full-body transplants are in the near future.
Canavero has outlined a plan to attach a living person's head to a donor body, saying the necessary procedures are "not far off," The Guardian reports. The doctor told New Scientist that full-body transplants could help people who suffer from terminal diseases.
The Guardian notes that one of the main hindrances to the transplant is the question of ethics, since most scientists "would almost certainly not approve experiments in primates to test whether the procedure works." But Canavero recognizes that people will disagree with the idea, and said he hopes to spark debate about ethics in medicine.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Other scientists believe that technological limits mean the transplant won't happen in the next two years. Scientists don't know how to reconnect spinal nerves, so the living heads may not yet be able to connect motor function with the donor bodies.
Canavero is expected to present on the proposed surgery at a Maryland meeting of neurological surgeons in June.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Ottawa climate talks: can global plastic problem be solved?
In the spotlight Nations aim to draft world's first treaty on plastic pollution, but resistance from oil- and gas-producing countries could limit scope
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Netherlands split on WFH for sex workers
Speed Read Councils concerned over 'nuisance' of at-home sex work, but others say changes will curb underground sex trade
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
'He adored Trump, and then rejected him'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published