@gubernia33
In 2015, Italian doctor Sergio Canavero announced his intention to perform a human head transplant. Despite the fact that attempts to carry out such a transplant have been ongoing since the beginning of the 20th century, no one had previously decided to conduct an experiment with the participation of a living person.
Head transplant to Valery Spiridonov
Valery Spiridonov, a programmer from Russia, wanted to become the first patient. He was diagnosed with a rare hereditary disease– Werdnig-Hoffman syndrome, which causes the destruction of spinal cord cells. Valery is almost completely paralyzed, and his condition only worsens over time.
The essence of the procedure
The head was going to be transplanted onto the body of a donor, who they planned to look for among the people who died in car accident or sentenced to death penalty. The main difficulty is how to connect the spinal cord fibers of the donor and recipient. Canavero stated that he would use polyethylene glycol for these purposes, a substance that, according to research data, can help restore neural connections.
After the operation, the patient was planned to be put into a coma, which would last 4 weeks, in order to immobilize the person while the head and body healed. During this time, electrical stimulation of the spinal cord will be performed to strengthen neural connections with the brain.
After the patient comes out of the coma, he will need to take drugs that suppress the immune system - immunosuppressants. This is necessary to prevent the head from being torn away from the body. There is reason to believe that during rehabilitation a person will need the help of a psychologist.
Operation involving Russian programmer was planned for 2017.
How did the experiment end?
Sergio Canavero was looking for sources of funding for his medical project, but these attempts did not lead to results for a long time. European and American universities refused to conduct the experiment. Funding was offered by the Chinese government, and the operation was planned to be carried out on the basis of Harbin University together with Professor Ren Xiaoping.
The Chinese government insisted that the donor be a citizen of their country. The surgery requires that the donor and recipient be of the same race. On this basis, Canavero denied Valery Spiridonov the opportunity to participate in the first transplant operation human head.
In November 2017, Canavero announced the transplantation dead man's head person. The operation ended well - doctors were able to connect the spine, nerves and blood vessels donor and recipient. Many experts in this field are skeptical about this experiment as a scientific breakthrough, because... they believe that surgery on corpses is of little indication for possible repetition with the participation of a living patient.
History of head transplant experiments
The first head transplant was performed in 1908 by Charles Guthrie. He sewed a second head to the dog's body and connected their circulatory systems. Scientists observed primitive reflexes in the second head, and after a few hours the dog was euthanized.
A major contribution was made by the Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov, who conducted experiments in the 1950s. He ensured that the dog lived 29 days after the operation. She also showed more abilities after the experiment. The difference was that Demikhov also transplanted the forelimbs, esophagus and lungs.
In 1970, Robert White performed head transplants on monkeys. Scientists managed to maintain blood flow in the head during separation, which allowed, after connecting with circulatory system donor to keep the brain alive. The animals lived for several days.
In the early 2000s. Japanese scientists performed transplantation on rats. They connected spinal cord using low temperatures.
The ability of polyethylene glycol and chitosan to restore nerve cells in the spinal cord was proven by studies conducted in Germany in 2014. Under the influence of these substances, rats that were paralyzed demonstrated the ability to move within a month.
Scientists from Russia plan to carry out an operation to transplant a human brain into a robot body by 2025.
In other words, another experiment was conducted. It lasted 18 hours. It was carried out by the Harbinsky team medical university led by Dr. Ren Xiaoping. During the procedure, it was possible to restore the spine, nerves and blood vessels. And without this, such a transplant is out of the question.
It is appropriate to recall that sensational reports about her did not appear today. At first, Sergio Canavero was going to hold it in Germany or Great Britain. And the first patient was supposed to be a programmer from Vladimir Valery Spiridonov, suffering from a severe genetic disease that deprives a person of the ability to move. Some time passed, and it was announced that not Valery Spiridonov, but presumably 64-year-old Chinese Wang Hua Min would be the first person to undergo such an operation, since Wang was in a more serious condition than Valery, and China had joined this project.
In September 2016, a neurosurgeon published a video showing animals (a mouse and a dog) undergoing a trial operation. The experiment used polyethylene glycol, which was injected into the affected areas of the spinal cord and helped restore connections between thousands of neurons. Polyethylene glycol, the same bioglue on which Canavero pinned his hopes from the very beginning, is capable of gluing together nerve endings, which is necessary for this transplantation. And here's Canavero's new message: live human head transplantation will take place in the near future.
Technically the operation is feasible. But not resolved main question: effectiveness of restoring nerve contacts between the donor’s head and body
At the request of RG, the director of the National Medical research center Transplantology and Artificial Organs named after Shumakov, Academician Sergei Gauthier:
Progress cannot be stopped. But when it directly concerns a person’s health and life, one should under no circumstances rush. The first is always, one way or another, associated with risk. And the risk must be justified. Technically, the operation of transplanting the body to the head is quite feasible. By the way, it is the body to the head, and not vice versa. Because the brain is identity, it is personality. And if the brain dies, there is nothing to do. There is no point in transplanting someone else's head to a still living body; it will be a different person. The question is whether it is possible to help this head containing human personality, with the help of a transplant of some donor body, so that this head is supplied with blood, oxygen, can receive nutrients from digestive system this body. Technically, I repeat, such an operation is quite feasible. But the main question has not been resolved: the effectiveness of restoring nerve contacts between the donor’s head and body. And conducting experiments on corpses, on animals about which reports are received, is a normal, generally accepted course of events, a generally accepted development of the methodology.
In November 2017 foreign media stirred up news of the world's first human head transplant operation. A little later, the sensation quickly spread through Russian information channels. The operation was carried out by a group of Chinese specialists at Harbin University. The process was led by Dr. Ren Xiaoping. The manipulation lasted about 18 hours and, according to Xiaoping, was successful. The doctors connected the elements of the spine, blood vessels and nerves, but, of course, did not resuscitate the “patient”: at this stage of the development of science, this is impossible.
Sergio Canavero: populist or popularizer of science?
Sergio Canavero is a famous surgeon from Italy. After the operation took place in China, he began to actively promote the news in scientific circles and popularize it among the masses. According to Dr. Canavero, he has long been developing proprietary techniques that will later help him perform a human head transplant - so that the head fits into the body and finds a “second life.” Canavero enthusiastically told people about the achievements of his Chinese colleagues and the essence of the experiment they conducted. He assured the public that he would certainly become the first surgeon who would be destined to save a human life in this way. In numerous interviews, he said that he was writing a serious scientific work on the topic of surgery and transplantology. This scientific work he promised to finish it soon and publish it for a wide audience.
Back in 2013, the Italian openly announced his desire to conduct a head transplant experiment. After the success of his Chinese colleagues, the doctor was inspired and spoke with confidence about the reality of such an operation in the near future. He constantly referred to research allegedly conducted by him and boldly gave optimistic forecasts for the near future.
This is interesting!
There were rumors that Canavero had already invented a unique gel that connects the smallest nerve cells of the spine.
The Italian’s main promise was that he was ready to perform such an operation, and it would take place in the near future. The scientific community was critical of such bold statements. Colleagues called Canavero a populist who simply wants to “promote himself” on an experimental operation carried out in China and earn cheap popularity from it. The culmination was Canavero's announcement that he was looking for a volunteer willing to experiment. A volunteer was found: Russian citizen, programmer Valery Spiridonov.
Valery Spiridonov and his story
After a head was transplanted from one dead body to another for the first time in China, Russian programmer Valery Spiridonov had hope that surgeons would continue their work. After Canavero’s statement about his desire to “transplant heads,” Valery immediately responded to such a proposal. Young man suffering serious illness and is confined to a wheelchair. Valery has Werdnig-Hoffmann syndrome, with complete atrophy of the back muscles. He can hardly move, and the disease progresses every year. It is not surprising that Valery, trusting the bold statements of a certified doctor, so easily believed in the reality of the “miracle”. Sergio Canavero personally met with the young man. This allowed the surgeon to see his determination. Doctor's conversation with potential patient made an impression on the world community, but the head transplant to the Russian programmer did not take place - neither in 2018 nor later. If we look at things realistically, such intervention is impossible in the near future, based on the following reasons:
It is difficult to find a donor body;
- world science has not yet “grown up” to such transplantations;
- it is difficult to imagine the psychological situation that the patient will have to go through.
They say that the operation could not take place because foreign specialists refused to operate on a patient from Russia. This is wrong. In many ways last news, associated with Valery, are incorrect - partly because of the populism that Canavero was engaged in. On the one hand, the programmer was “unlucky”, so the story has a sad ending: he is destined to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. But if you look at things realistically, carrying out such an operation is technically impossible either in 2018 or 2019. It may take decades to implement it into reality - and it is not a fact that such a practice will immediately become successful.
Is a head transplant possible: comments from Russian scientists
Sometimes Russian scientists are reproached for the fact that they lag behind their foreign colleagues in many respects. This is not entirely fair, because domestic transplantology is slightly inferior to foreign ones. Our specialists can transplant heads from one dead body to another no worse than the Chinese, but they do not consider this a “miraculous operation.” Canavero managed to make a sensation out of the experiment, reassuring many seriously ill patients, but he overdid it in his desire to become famous and popular. Experimental operations are one thing, real work when human life is in your hands is another. Russian surgeon Alexey Zhao believes that between experimental and real surgical interventions there is a huge period of time. Of course, the Italian Canavero can be called a populist, but it was he who aroused people’s interest in the topic of treating patients who are completely immobilized. When separating the head from the body, surgeons have to deal with a complete rupture of the cervical spinal cord. There is no problem in sewing a head to another body. But even if the operation is successful, and the surgeon does everything anatomically correct, the body will not “obey” the other head. The limbs and shoulders will remain motionless, so the operation does not make any sense.
The surgeon can connect large great vessels neck. The patient's kidneys and heart will work for some time, but the connections between the central nervous system and it will not be a body, because its main element is the spinal cord, severed in the neck area. It is not yet possible to restore this gap and the function of the spinal cells. Even if a person survives the operation, he will not be able to control the processes of urination and take care of himself.
Axons - processes nerve cells, which sometimes reach a meter in length. These processes carry impulses from cells to vital important bodies. The structure of axons is so complex that it is impossible to restore them “manually”. It remains theoretically to assume that it is possible to create a unique material that could connect them. The gel that the Italian Canavero mentioned in his populist lectures does not yet exist. It will take decades to create such material, and no single specialist can do it alone.
A little history: Vladimir Demikhov and his two-headed dog
The Russian school of transplantology emerged in the late 40s of the last century. Biologist Vladimir Demikhov founded an experimental laboratory in which he and his followers were engaged in transplantology. They conducted experiments on animals. One of the adult dogs received not only the head of another puppy, but also part of his body. The puppy's torso was connected through the great arteries adult dog to her heart and lungs. After the operation, the two-headed dog lived for about two weeks. The puppy's head could eat, drink and react to the world. Subsequently, Demikhov created several more two-headed dogs. Unfortunately, all the animals lived no more than two weeks. At that time, transplantology was just beginning its development path. Scientists did not know that the body rejects everything foreign bodies, producing immune cells. When scientists began to practice heart transplants, they began to develop immunosuppressants. These are drugs that the recipient must take constantly to prevent rejection of the donor's organ.
Fun fact!
A stuffed animal of one of Demikhov’s two-headed dogs is among the exhibits of the State Biological Museum named after K.A. Timiryazev in Moscow.
Sklifosovsky Institute: research continues
At the Sklifosovsky Institute in Moscow, Dr. Sergio Canavero is called a talented hoaxer who talked a lot about creating a unique substance for connecting spinal cell processes. The ambitious Italian never created anything. Director of the Research Institute named after. Sklifosovsky Anzor Khubutia claims that a group of Russian scientists is working at the institute - just to create such a composition. This group is led by the chief neurosurgeon of Moscow V.V. Krylov. He is developing a number of cellular technologies that in the future may help restore neural connections - including those that have been completely broken cervical region spinal cord. V.V. Krylov does not like to tell journalists about the results of his work, unlike the Italian surgeon. Moreover, it is too early to talk about the results, because the research is only at the beginning of its journey. The task of Russian scientists is to ensure that nerve tissues become comparable to each other. The main thing is to ensure the transition of the pathways from the brain to the spinal cord in order to establish a connection between the central nervous system and all organs. As a material, scientists take spinal cord stem cells, which can take on certain functions of the body. In the next 10 to 50 years, researchers want to find out whether stem cells can improve the nutrition of damaged neurons enough to completely restore them.
Is it possible to transplant the head of a living person onto another body and how did it end in the case of Valery Spiridonov? Valery's story, unfortunately, had no continuation. Probably, the research of Russian scientists will not allow us to put an end to it, and the dreams of the ambitious Italian surgeon will one day become a reality.
The world's first human head transplant will take place in China. This was announced by Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero, who is going to perform this unique operation. Previously Russian programmer Valery Spiridonov. But now, apparently, he decided to change plans.
30-year-old Valery Spiridonov has a complex genetic disease- spinal muscular atrophy. He is practically unable to move. Everyone expected that Valery would become the first person in history to receive a body transplant. Or the head; there is no consensus among doctors on what to call this transplant. He had been preparing for the most complex and so far unique operation of its kind since 2015.
"I'm not trying to commit some sophisticated method of suicide. No, it's not like that. I'm happy with what I have. And I have confidence that everyone understands what they're doing. It's just that someone technically should be the first. Why not me?" - he said.
The transplant was to be performed by a neurosurgeon from Italy, Sergio Canavero. Spiridonov flew to the USA to meet with him after online consultations.
And now, six months before the planned operation, news comes: the first patient to undergo a head transplant will not be a Russian, but a citizen of the People's Republic of China. The official reason is as follows: they decided to carry out the operation in China, and the donor and recipient must belong to the same race.
“We will have to look for donors among local residents. And we cannot give snow-white Valeria the body of a person of a different race. We cannot yet name the new candidate. We are in the process of choosing,” said Sergio Canavero, a neurosurgeon.
However, many are sure that it is more a matter of funding and national prestige. In China, head transplant surgery is funded at the government level. A separate clinic in Harbin will be allocated for this. Dozens of local doctors will help the Italian neurosurgeon. And the patient’s choice will most likely also fall on a citizen of the People’s Republic of China.
"The Chinese decided to carry out this operation because they want to get Nobel Prize and establish your country as an engine of scientific progress. This is a kind of new space race,” Canavero is sure.
The operation is expected to last about 36 hours and cost $15 million. Once frozen, the heads will be separated from the bodies. And the recipient's head will be attached to the donor's body using special biological glue. Polyethylene glycol will be injected into the affected areas of the spinal cord; with its help, it has already been possible to restore connections between thousands of neurons in animals.
Trial operations on patients in the condition are planned for the fall of 2017. clinical death. This is necessary to hone the technique of surgical manipulations. Previously, Sergio Canavero had already managed to sew on a second head of a mouse and transplant the head of a monkey. However, the monkey was euthanized 20 hours after the operation. And the transplanted mouse head did not send impulses to other parts of the body.
And many neurosurgeons still doubt that when performing an operation on a person it will actually be possible to successfully fuse the spinal cord and preserve vital functions brain.
“Technically, there are many problems with stitching together many vessels, nerves, bones. But these are solvable options. The main problem is how to make impulses from the head through the stitched spinal cord pass down and back? Unfortunately, this technique does not work yet, there is no such technique ", says the Russian doctor.
The Italian surgeon himself estimates the chances of success as 90 percent. And I am sure that this will be a breakthrough in the field of transplantation, which will give a chance for life to people with many serious diseases - from spinal muscle atrophy to now incurable forms of cancer.
Loading...