Among the medical breakthroughs in 2017, the head transplant is one of the more controversial. Reported in numerous news articles, the Head Anastomosis Venture project, proposed by Dr. Sergio Canavero, has been deemed crazy and insane. This video evaluates the science behind the madness. Since 2013, Dr. Canavero has authored and published literature as he experimentally progressed towards the first live human head transplant said to occur to 2018 in China. The video checks the alignment of the popular opinion of students and scientists and evaluates the available scientific evidence. It also demonstrates the intricacies and implications of this procedure. It explores Dr. Canavero’s literature and gains an understanding of the protocols involved in the transplant and the data to support its feasibility.

This video was made by McMaster Demystifying Medicine Students Inna Ushcatz, Komal Noor, Mahnoor Waseem and Karolina Zak.

Copyright McMaster University 2018

References:

1. White RJ, Wolin LR, Massopust LC, Taslitz N, Verdura J. Primate cephalic transplantation: neurogenic separation, vascular association. Transplant Proc [Internet]. 1971 Mar [cited 2018 Feb 10];3(1):602–4. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4999463

2. Canavero S. HEAVEN: The head anastomosis venture Project outline for the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage (GEMINI). Surg Neurol Int [Internet]. Wolters Kluwer -- Medknow Publications; 2013 [cited 2018 Feb 10];4(Suppl 1):S335–42. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24244881

3. Ren X, Canavero S. HEAVEN in the Making: Between the Rock (the Academe) and a Hard Case (a Head Transplant). AJOB Neurosci [Internet]. Taylor & Francis; 2017 Oct 2 [cited 2018 Feb 10];8(4):200–5. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21507740.2017.1392372

4. Canavero S, Ren X, Kim C-Y. Reconstructing the severed spinal cord. Surg Neurol Int [Internet]. Wolters Kluwer -- Medknow Publications; 2017 [cited 2018 Feb 10];8:285. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29279802

5. Ren X, Li M, Zhao X, Liu Z, Ren S, Zhang Y, et al. First cephalosomatic anastomosis in a human model. Surg Neurol Int [Internet]. Wolters Kluwer -- Medknow Publications; 2017 [cited 2018 Feb 10];8:276. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29279793