Release date: 2016-09-26
On Monday, International Neurosurgery published an article and video about a dog with severely injured (almost completely severed) spinal cords who "miracratically" resumed walking ability after three weeks of injecting "glue" medication into the spinal cord. Sergio Canavero, an Italian neurosurgeon, said the above-mentioned method of repairing spinal cords in puppies could make it possible to carry out human head transplants next year.
However, this has caused other scientists to worry about the technology. Whether in the patient with a spinal injury or transplanting the head to the donor's body, the two ends of the isolated (broken) spinal cord need to be fused, containing thousands of neuronal end fusions at the junction. It's like a group of pasta. If these neurons are not well-reacted, they will miss each other's growth and will never form an electrical signaling pathway, ie, unable to transmit nerve impulses within the body.
The researchers who published the paper claim that a chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG) may help reconnect the severed spinal nerves. They first cut the spinal cord of 16 mice, then injected PEG into the end of the spinal cord cut by 8 of the mice, and injected the saline into the remaining 8 mice. According to the researchers, after four weeks, 5 of the 8 experimental mice injected with PEG regained some exercise capacity, compared with the control group injected with saline. The other 3 mice in the experimental group died as well as all the mice in the control group.
New York University medical ethicist Arthur Kaplan said that the latest research shows that the surgery still has many years to go. He said: "This work may take three to four years to achieve spinal repair, and it takes seven to eight years to try any similar head transplant."
Source: DeepTech Deep Technology
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