Head transplant candidate sells souvenirs to fund operation A Russian man who has volunteered to undergo the world’s first head transplant has begun selling souvenirs to fund the op, after the world’s billionaires failed to pick up the tab. Valery Spiridonov, a 31 year old computer scientist who suffers from a rare degenerative wasting disease, is set to be the world’s first head …
he could parts of his old body encapsulated in resin
How about having his skin tanned, and made into stuff like belts, wallets and gloves? Or even sold complete as the ultimate onesie?
Although I'd settle for a china mug, because I like his class in trying to raise the money for his own survival.
...Canavero has previously appealed to the world’s billionaires to step up and foot the cost of the operation.
I have to hand it to him, it takes a lot of guts to go through with something this radical; I certainly wouldn't have the stomach for it even if it would add to humanty's collective body of knowledge. He is obviously eyeing this as his opportunity to achieve his 15 minutes of fame. Still, it would seem unrealistic to expect others to simply hand him the money. When it is all said and done, I hope he doesn't let the experience and attention go to his head.
@crazy Operations Guy.
That is the most offensive and ignorant thing I've heard today, and I read through some excerpts of Trump's speeches and some NDP propaganda....
Most offensive thing you've heard today ?!?!? I guess this is the first story you picked on The Reg to read today..... Or wait are your a stuck up social warrior?
Apparently they are using 4 different methodologies at the same time, including:- PEG, electrostimulation, precise cuts and also human specific nervous system repair agents.
The tricky part is getting the two cords precisely cut and lined up, even a 200um gap is going to be catastrophic.
A 20% return of function would be enough to allow the (hopefully still intact) neurons in the grey matter to carry out their reflexes while under conscious control as they would in the original state.
He might be able to walk with some assistance, best case.
There is always the option to use EEG sensors and implants if the connection isn't quite good enough to some areas.
...the world’s first head transplant patient - or body transplant patient, depending on your point of view.
How is this a head transplant, whatever your point of view?
Heart transplant -> you get a new heart. Does anyone call that an all-the-body-except-the-heart transplant?
Because when you look at it, the brain is the command center for the body. If it works, then in theory it's like getting a different car (I hesitate to say new, as who knows what condition the next one will be in. If it's anything like mine, not even WeBuyAnyCorpse would give me a tenner for it...)
So yes, you're putting the control section on another body. Pretty sure the heart has no feelings either way when it comes to getting a new home and being alive again, but the noggin certainly does.
So it could be like trying to fit a 486 processor into a modern board.
I think that'd be actually a lot easier. In fact, I have a 386 SX 20MHz kicking around for which I plan to make a more modern motherboard. There's also a 486 DX4 100MHz chip kicking around too.
The 386 (and 486) has datasheets available. The human brain does not. The CPUs don't have to be kept running whilst being transplanted either.
Pi0 just too fast, efficient, cheap and easy for you?
Exactly, plus, no external address bus interface. It's a learning project, and you can't easily do that with a Raspberry Pi of any kind. The modern SoCs are too fiddly for a homebrewer like myself.
Neither does the brain, if you get it cool enough.
Yep, I can do it at room temperature, try that with a brain.
It's very likely that even if the surgery is a success and the young man survives and regains conciousness - his brain will be a tad unhappy about being exposed to a situation that it simply cannot process. Whether his brain is able to accept the new situation or has a freak out and says "that's it, it's too much, I'm done" remains to be seen. But I think we all know deep down - the likelihood is that deep freezing the head will result in the water in cells bursting the cell walls as it freezes - which has always been the problem with cryogenics.
It's very likely that even if the surgery is a success and the young man survives and regains conciousness -
The very first thing that I thought, although this may be a bit of valuable research for the future I find it difficult to imagine this being a success. However, I do wish him the very best of luck.
'I will fear no evil' that would be just too weird waking up with the body of a woman and having her mind still in the head with you. I read that story back in the '70s and thought it an interesting thought experiment and social commentary but a little odd.
If they freeze the brain it will be mush when they thaw it. It's too delicate. [Yes, okay, if you must, insert zombie joke here] The water in the tissue will not only expand while freezing, a lot of it will turn into needle-like ice crystals that will puncture cell membranes etc. Too much damage to remain a working brain. You'd have to spike the blood with antifreeze or replace it for the time being. But that would cause too much damage just as well. There are single-cell organisms that can survive being frozen, but that's it.
Maybe inducing a coma and lowering the temperature near (but above, with a safety margin) zero could work, but probably only for a short time. This still would be a lot of punishment, and the human brain isn't really designed for that. Our brains are the most complex thing we know. They are used to, so to speak, being housed, immersed in liquid, in a protective sphere. Ever had a concussion? Brains don't like that. Sunstroke? Temperature control is an issue. Nasty stuff in the blood? Not good, so there are clever filter mechanisms to form a barrier (alcohol and drugs can get through to some extent, but that's neither here nor there).
I don't know what I'd do to try to survive, but I can't help the feeling that a body swap would only speed things up.
Next question: where do you get a suitable body? Does being an organ donor even cover that?
Bonus question: given that the body swap, against all odds, actually works - what will be the surviver's legal status and identity?
I'm imagining they'll saturate the recipient (head contributor) with one of 'em newfangled saccharide thinganybobs like what frogs have before they lop of his melon and whack it into the freezer.
It's how you'd thaw the thing out safely afterwards that's puzzling me. Can't see sticking it in the fridge for a couple of days being particularly healthy... nor whacking it in the microwave on low power... hmmm...
I don't think so. His brain (i.e. him) is totally aware of what's going to happen to it, and probably envisage several scenarios post-op, although it almost surely won't know how it all will turn out.
If he survives at all, the minimum outcome would be quadruplegic from the neck down, with whatever brain damage he incurred from the freezing. One step up may be like a stroke victim mixed with someone who's lost limbs: needing to retrain motor control and senses as well as phantom sensations. But I'm not a brain scientist in whatever way, shape or form.
Blue Screen of Death? A sneeze too far?
I hate to imagine how you'd three finger salute a human body.. Jam two fingers up his butt while twisting his left nipple for 5 seconds if its anything like an Android phone. It'd probably be fun finding out..
I wonder also how you write Davros in Russian?
This post has been deleted by its author
From time to time, details emerge (and sound plausible to this non-gamer) suggesting the two main players in this picture are involved in some kind of scam or promotional in-joke for a forthcoming release of some flavour of a pc+console game which I won't honor with publicity here - but loads of you will know the one.
Has that suggestion gone away?
well.... I guess if it works then all those kids born suffering from the Zika virus will come in handy for something. Ready source of spare bodies in few years (and spare parts as well maybe)
Of course the problem will come when they're all used up. Maybe we shouldn't totally eradicate the virus everywhere - we'll still need some bodies
No ethical issues at all - you've got a body with an ineffective brain, so why not upgrade the body with a replacement head? Makes the body viable again
I think it's incredibly reckless to attempt this until the surgeon can perform the procedure on chimps with a reasonable level of reliability. But on the other hand, the patient has Werdnig-Hoffman disease - it's degenerative, he is already wheelchair-bound, and as the disease continues he is going to lose what little mobility he has along with his capacity to work. So if he wants to gamble his life on a kill-or-cure experimental and dangerous procedure, that's his choice. It might work, and if not then knowledge will be gained to improve the technique for the next guina pig.
"perform the procedure on chimps"
no chance. What have the chimps done to deserve that? And anyway you'd have every animal-lib campaigner in the world trying to block every move.
No, if you want test animals, use a few cats. Plenty of those furry devils around and nicking a few off the street would be a benefit. Cats tear up your garden, crap everywhere and give you brain parasites. They deserve to die.
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