原创 Full human head transplant: Closer than we think?

Have you ever seen the Star Trek episode Spock's Brain? The idea is that aliens remove Spock's brain from his body and insert it into a box that keeps it alive and that is tied into a control system.

Fortunately, it turns out that -- owing to his unusual Vulcan physiology -- Spock's body can survive in this "brainless" state mechanically, thereby giving Captain Kirk 24 hours to locate and retrieve the stolen organ.

Even as a young lad who believed six impossible things before breakfast each day, I thought all of this was extremely far-fetched. However, it turns out that -- as with so many other things -- advances in medicine and technology are bringing the "impossible" closer to home. I just ran across This Video in which we meet Russian head transplant volunteer Valeri Spiridonov.

Valeri's body is failing him, so he's pinning his hopes on a controversial surgeon called Dr. Sergio Canavero, who believes he can perform a full head transplant -- that is, removing Valeri's head from his failing body and attaching it to the body of a brain-dead donor.

Is this in any way possible? Well, I also ran across this column that goes into a little more detail. I have to admit that this has left me deep in thought. I can understand someone in Valeri's position clutching at any chance for life they can get -- I just don't know if I'd have the courage to go through with it myself.

I also wonder about the future. Suddenly, some of the things I've read in science fiction books -- like our hero changing sex in the middle of Steel Beach by John Varley -- don’t seem quite so far-fetched as once they did.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this (no pun intended). The ramifications are staggering. What do you think?