Head Transplants

A surgeon who has successfully carried out head transplant on monkey prepares to perform the same operation on a human.

16:19 20 June 2016

Dr Xiaoping Ren, the surgeon who made international headlines for his successful head transplant on a monkey, prepares to perform the same procedure on a human.

 

Although called reckless by his peers in the scientific community, he said that his project, which is supported by a team of young doctors and funded by the government, can save lives.

 

He said: “A human head transplant will be a new frontier in science. Some people say it is the last frontier in medicine. It is a very sensitive and very controversial subject – but if we can translate it to clinical practice, we can save a lot of lives.”

 

“I am just doing my work as scientist. People can say, ‘You are Frankenstein’. I don’t care. I care about my job. I care about my science. We are getting closer to our goal of a human head transplant. I don’t have a timetable, but I’m not ruling out next year.”

 

“Many people say a head transplant is not ethical,” he says. “But what is the essence of a person? A person is the brain not the body. The body is just an organ.”