Head transplant against existing law

Editor's note: Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero announced on Nov 17 that a team led by him and Ren Xiaoping, a professor at Harbin Medical University, had transplanted the head of a corpse on the body of another, and hinted at carrying out the same operation on a living human. Huang Jiefu, chairman of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and former vice-minister of health, shared his views on the subject with China Daily's Zhang Zhouxiang and Shan Juan. Excerpts follow:

Q: Canavero said the surgical operation was a success, because the team connected the spine and the blood vessels, using polyethylen glycol as a kind of binder. What do you think about the claim?

A: The anatomic structure of the human neck is more complicated than a non-medical-professional can imagine. Take the "nerves", which Canavero referred to, as an example. The human neck contains the spine, the accessory nerves, the cervical sympathetic nerves, and the nerves connecting the human brain with the human body number in millions. So, the team might have been able to "glue" the nerves, but it's very difficult to "successfully reconnect" all of them.