Don't lose your head! Full-body transplants will be possible within two years

[tss]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

[(oYo)]

So... hold off on exercising for a few more years and just get a fit body transplant? 

[tee-rex]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

The doctor in his article (which is included in PubMed, not in the OP) says that if the spinal cord is severed by a sharp cut, then the chances are pretty good for recovering at least partial motility.

Below is the relevant part from that paper:

The key to SCF is a sharp severance of the cords themselves, with its attendant minimal damage to both the axons in the white matter and the neurons in the gray laminae. This is a key point: A typical force generated by creating a sharp transection is less than 10 N versus approximately 26000 N experienced during spinal cord injury

A specially fashioned diamond microtomic snare-blade is one option (unpublished); a nanoknife made of a thin layer of silicon nitride with a nanometer sharp cutting edge is another alternative. Notably, the mechanical strength of silicon is superior to that of steel

He also notes that other studies have revealed that rats whose spinal cords were sharply transected recovered ambulation (ability to move).

[picolo]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

If they didn't try it, it means they are missing something. A donor body could be someone who had a fatal brain problem of some sort.

[tee-rex]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

If they didn't try it, it means they are missing something. A donor body could be someone who had a fatal brain problem of some sort.

There are a lot of car accident victims who have their heads terribly and lethally damaged but bodies mostly intact. They (the doctor and company) are missing public and authorities approval obviously.

If society doesn't want it, I won't do it. But if people don't want it in the US or Europe, that doesn't mean it won't be done somewhere else. I'm trying to go about this the right way, but before going to the moon, you want to make sure people will follow you

Why won't you guys finally go and read the article?

[tss]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

The doctor in his article (which is included in PubMed, not in the OP) says that if the spinal cord is severed by a sharp cut, then the chances are pretty good for recovering at least partial motility.

Below is the relevant part from that paper:

The key to SCF is a sharp severance of the cords themselves, with its attendant minimal damage to both the axons in the white matter and the neurons in the gray laminae. This is a key point: A typical force generated by creating a sharp transection is less than 10 N versus approximately 26000 N experienced during spinal cord injury

A specially fashioned diamond microtomic snare-blade is one option (unpublished); a nanoknife made of a thin layer of silicon nitride with a nanometer sharp cutting edge is another alternative. Notably, the mechanical strength of silicon is superior to that of steel

He also notes that other studies have revealed that rats whose spinal cords were sharply transected recovered ambulation (ability to move).

the rat's spine was cut sharply and rejoined in the same section. same rat, same spine.

so then you say the key to spinal cord repair is 2 sharp cuts above and below the injury then a joining of the sections?  why hasn't this been tried before?  

[bronan]

It has been tried several thousands of times only a straight cut is not the answer.
People have been experimenting with this for several ages, with more or less succes.
Yes even on humans in the wars

[tee-rex]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

The doctor in his article (which is included in PubMed, not in the OP) says that if the spinal cord is severed by a sharp cut, then the chances are pretty good for recovering at least partial motility.

Below is the relevant part from that paper:

The key to SCF is a sharp severance of the cords themselves, with its attendant minimal damage to both the axons in the white matter and the neurons in the gray laminae. This is a key point: A typical force generated by creating a sharp transection is less than 10 N versus approximately 26000 N experienced during spinal cord injury

A specially fashioned diamond microtomic snare-blade is one option (unpublished); a nanoknife made of a thin layer of silicon nitride with a nanometer sharp cutting edge is another alternative. Notably, the mechanical strength of silicon is superior to that of steel

He also notes that other studies have revealed that rats whose spinal cords were sharply transected recovered ambulation (ability to move).

the rat's spine was cut sharply and rejoined in the same section. same rat, same spine.

so then you say the key to spinal cord repair is 2 sharp cuts above and below the injury then a joining of the sections?  why hasn't this been tried before? 

I'm absolutely sure that this has already been tried many times (with mixed success). After an injury, the patient isn't usually operated right on the spot (I mean spinal cord surgeries), and with every hour passed his chances for successful recovery are diminishing. Besides that, I think the majority of spinal cord injuries are not cut-throughs but fractures and tears, under which a larger section of the cord is damaged.

[tee-rex]

It has been tried several thousands of times only a straight cut is not the answer.
People have been experimenting with this for several ages, with more or less succes.
Yes even on humans in the wars

The doctor says about sharp cut, as you seem to have failed to notice. And he explains precisely what is meant by this, i.e. "a nanoknife made of a thin layer of silicon nitride with a nanometer sharp cutting edge". Nanometer sharp cutting edge means that the cutting edge thickness is just a few atoms/molecules (if not a single molecule of silicon nitride).

There's plenty of room at the bottom.

[havecoch]

This might promote organ or body kidnapping. But I doubt this will ever be a reality. Why would you want to lose your body for someone elses.

[galdur]

But brains degenerate over time. What use is having your head on a young body if you hardly know your ass from your elbow ? So to speak.

[TotalShift]

But brains degenerate over time. What use is having your head on a young body if you hardly know your ass from your elbow ? So to speak.

This is for now. I'm sure a cure will be discovered soon in our lifetime.

[Biomech]

Where I see greater potential, and this appears to be research in the right direction, is cybernetic bodies with organic brains as a means of life extension, or cloning a fresh body and implanting your brain into it. Both are rather futuristic, but the one prediction you can make with certainty regarding new technologies is that you can't accurately predict a timeline. The prerequisites for an assembler already exist, based on the Drexler's "the Engines of Creation", but so far nobody has done it. Unless in secret..

[BillyBobZorton]

Full-body transplants will be possible within two years, says controversial surgeon Sergio Canavero

The world’s first full-body transplant – in which someone’s head would be sewn onto a donor body – could take place in just two years, according to a controversial surgeon.

Mr Canavero said: “I think we are now at a point when the technical aspects are all feasible. If society doesn't want it, I won't do it. But if people don't want it in the US or Europe, that doesn't mean it won't be done somewhere else. I'm trying to go about this the right way, but before going to the moon, you want to make sure people will follow you

A worthy comment from the site:

Soon we will see 'rich wise heads on young shoulders'. Now the Western oligarchs will finally find some use for the younger poor and disadvantaged (So long as they have a healthy body)

What do you guys think?

Obvious scam. This is like a pump and dump. They hype up a supossedly revolutionary thing, then it turns out a scam. Don't buy on this.

[DiFranco]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

I think it'll be a lot  longer than two years before this happens if ever. I saw that they tried this experiment years ago on a monkey but it only survived a few hours. There's a documentary on vice. Could be bullshit though but it seemed real. I'm not sure if I'd want somebody elses body if I was crippled. Some things just arent meant to be fixed once broken.

[Lethn]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

I think it'll be a lot  longer than two years before this happens if ever. I saw that they tried this experiment years ago on a monkey but it only survived a few hours. There's a documentary on vice. Could be bullshit though but it seemed real. I'm not sure if I'd want somebody elses body if I was crippled. Some things just arent meant to be fixed once broken.

There are far more sophisticated and frankly ethical ways of doing it to begin with like growing skin cells or cybernetics which are actually being proven to work than this crazy necromancy so it seems like this is just tryig to re-invent the wheel in a really fucked up way.

[Nemo1024]

In the context of this thread, I want to commemorate the great Soviet-Russian scientist, the founding father of transplantation, Vladimir Petrovich Demnihov.

Among his other experiments, were transplantations of dogs' heads in 1954, where the donor and recipient lived on one body after the operation.

[tee-rex]

This might promote organ or body kidnapping. But I doubt this will ever be a reality. Why would you want to lose your body for someone elses.

Organ theft from prisoners of war or just kidnapped people is already there. Should we then ban organ transplantion at all, and how this ban would stop what is already declared illegal and being chased after?

[pedrog]

I'm quite skeptical about the viability of this transplant, and even if it can be done, in case of rejection I guess the head is the one being rejected.

[tee-rex]

This is interesting. How do they join two spinal cords?

good question.  we can't repair spinal cord damage yet but in two years they claim to fully transplant a head and reconnect all those nerves?  i think not.  also.. where do you get a donor body.?

I think it'll be a lot  longer than two years before this happens if ever. I saw that they tried this experiment years ago on a monkey but it only survived a few hours. There's a documentary on vice. Could be bullshit though but it seemed real. I'm not sure if I'd want somebody elses body if I was crippled. Some things just arent meant to be fixed once broken.

That monkey had lived for 11 days, if I'm not mistaken. It died because of the complications from the immune system response (and they didn't attach the spinal cords, by the way). These problems are largely overcome by now through the use of immunosuppressants (and will be completely eliminated by gene therapy in the future). Suffice it to say, that about 3,500 heart transplants are performed annually worldwide.