Audio: Ethics of transplanting a human head under the spotlight
A medical procedure of such magnitude will require ethical approval.
The first East Rand Business Women (ERBW) meeting for the year dived into a serious subject matter – human head transplant.
The monthly meeting took place at Summer Place on February 13.
Invited guest speaker, advocate Janet Early also touched on the ethical concerns.
Early started her career as a fashion designer, but has always held a deep interest in the psychological wellness and dysfunction of the human mind.
This motivated her to pursue an undergraduate and then a postgraduate degree in psychology, forensic medicine, criminology, then law and then a master’s in medical ethics and health law.
According to Early, in 2015 Dr Sergio Canavero, a neurosurgeon, announced he would perform a transplant procedure on a human subject within three years for patients who have a terminal condition with no known cures, but intact brain function.
“It is conceivable for the donor’s body to become attached to the recipients head, or a donors head on a recipient’s body. In such a case the body of the recipient and head will be discarded.
“This kind of transplant has received approval from relevant regulatory bodies to perform the body-to-head transplant in China after the procedure was performed on two cadavers and animal studies.
“The procedure is extremely difficult as the recipient’s cerebral blood flow must be maintained in order to avoid brain damage. The procedure will require ethical approval.
“The complex neurosurgical procedure, called the head anastomosis venture (Heaven), is the Gemini technique which entails cooling down and cutting of the spinal cords of the recipient and donor in a way that would allow for anastomosis.
“The safety of this procedure has been confirmed in primates,” she said.
LISTEN TO THE SHORT INTERVIEW WITH EARLY:
Valid criticism or scientific jealousy
According to Early, bioethicists and scientist have criticised the procedure as rotten scientifically and extraordinary unethical by playing God.
“Some of the neuroethical issues regarding the whole transplant include a high risk of the neurosurgical procedure, psychological and economic stress, as well as the possibility of rejection.
“The biological ethical issues are that the resultant person would be different from both the individual whose head was transplanted and the one whose body that has received the new head.
“He or she will ask questions like who was I, what was I, when did I come and what is my destination. All of these lines of meaning and existence becomes blurred.
“So both the donor and recipient die because their organisms no longer exist, including their legal persona, social relations, genetic identity and gender,” said Early.
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