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This is Sergio Canavero, an Italian neurosurgeon
这是意大利神经外科医生塞尔吉奥·卡纳维罗，
who has announced plans to transplant an entire human head onto a different human body at the end of 2017…yep.
他在2017年底就宣布，计划将整个人头移植到另一个人体上......是的。
Whole head transplant? How possible is this? Why hasn't this been done before? And maybe most importantly, why are people calling this guy crazy?
全头移植？这怎么可能？以前怎么没有人这么做？也许最重要的问题是，人们为什么会说他疯了？
Unlike other organs, your brain and spinal cord are extremely sensitive to damage and resistant to repair.
我们的大脑和和脊髓与其他器官不一样，这两个部位对损伤非常敏感，而且修复后会产生排斥反应。
This is why injury to the neck or spine often results in permanent injury
这就是为什么颈部或脊柱一受伤经常都会变成永久性损伤，
and complete reattachment of heads severed from their bodies has remained the stuff of science fiction and fantasy.
以及头部被从身体上彻底分离之后再重新接回去现在仍停留在科幻小说和幻想阶段的原因。
That’s not to say that scientists aren’t working diligently to develop techniques to aid in spinal cord repair.
然而，这并不代表科学家们没有为研发有助于脊柱修复的技术而努力。
Current approaches include stem-cell therapies that encourage growth of new neurons
针对这种疾病，目前已有的技术包括促进新神经元生长的干细胞疗法，
and biological “glues” that work like electrical tape to patch severed fibers back together.
以及能够像电工胶带一样将切断的纤维修复在一起的生物“胶水”。
But these approaches are far from helping patients fully recover after trauma.
尽管如此，这些方法还远远不能帮助患者在创伤后彻底康复。
If we could do that, it would be a sensational step forward in the field of medical science.
如果我们能做到这一点，那将是医学科学领域的一次轰动性的进步。
Which brings us back to Sergio Canavero and his plans to transplant an entire human head.
这又让我们重新回到了塞尔吉奥·卡纳维罗和他移植整个人头的计划上。
The procedure proposed by Canavero and his team requires cooling of both the donor head and recipient body
卡纳维罗和他的团队提出的办法就是冷却供体头部和受体，
to increase the amount of time both can survive without blood circulation.
以延长两者在没有血液循环的情况下存活的时间。
Next, the major blood vessels in the neck would be dissected and reconnected.
接下来，将解剖颈部的主要血管切开并重新连接。
Once the head is moved over, the neuronal fibers of the spinal cords would be fused and the blood vesicles and muscles would be sewn together.
供体头部一放上来，便立刻连接脊髓的神经纤维，同时缝合血囊和肌肉。
They would be kept in a coma for several weeks for recovery
接着让供体和受体保持数周的昏迷状态供其恢复
and electrodes would be used to electrically stimulate the nerve fibers to encourage connection.
同时使用电极刺激并促进神经纤维的连接。
But who would he be when he woke up?
问题是醒来之后他是谁呢？
As a neuroscientist, I am incredibly excited about what head transplants could teach us about consciousness, identity, and the brain’s conception of the “self”,
作为一名神经科学家，我无比期待头部移植可以带给我们的关于意识，身份和大脑对“自我”的概念等方面的认知，
not to mention the millions of patients whose live will be changed by improving techniques for spinal cord repair.
更不用说这项技术能够提高脊柱修复技术，从而改变数百万患者的命运了。
But I have some questions: mainly why do we think we can do this? And: should we?
但我还是有一些问题，主要是我们凭什么觉得我们能够做到这一点？还有：我们应该那么做吗？
Canavero and his Chinese Collaborator Xiao-ping Ren have been reporting progress on development of head transplantation techniques to journalists and the media for several years.
多年来，卡纳维罗和他的中国合作者任小平一直在对记者和媒体跟进头部移植技术方面的进展。
They have claimed progress in transplant and/or spinal cord repair in rodents, dogs, and primates.
他们声称，啮齿动物，狗和灵长类动物的头部移植和/或脊髓修复已经取得了进展。
But only their work on rodents has been accepted and published by scientifically credible sources.
然而，这些研究中只有对啮齿动物的研究才被科学可靠的资料来源接受并刊载。
The scientific community in general likes careful, validated, incremental progress,
总体来看，科学界还是喜欢仔细、有效而循序渐进的研究进展，
and every time Canavero and his team announce a result via Press Release instead of peer-reviewed journal, the claim is met with skepticism and disbelief.
而卡纳维罗和他的团队每次通过Press Release而不是经同行评审的期刊宣布他们的研究结果时，他们受到的都是怀疑和不信。
This is in part due to poor scientific technique in their experimental design (small sample size, poor controls, and limited data on “patient” outcomes),
部分原因在于：一，实验设计所用的方法欠佳（样本小，控制不良，“患者”结果方面的数据有限），
their approach of bypassing peer review and the options of experts in favor of media coverage,
二，他们避开了同行的评审和专家的选择，转而选择了在媒体上公开，
and the fact that no other surgical team has yet reproduced their results.
三，他们的研究结果尚且还没有得到其他外科团队的验证。
If scientific understanding is to move forward,
如果我们要把科学认知往前推进，
we cannot refuse to try new things on the basis that we have never done it before.
我们就不能以之前没做过为由拒绝尝试新事物。
And it is my belief that the scientific community would be thrilled
而且我相信，如果能够在在尝试移植整个头部之前，
to accept a more conservative approach driven by multiple successes in animal models
有更保守的方法，在动物实验中得到了反复验证，
and less dramatic spinal cord repair in humans before attempting whole head transplant.
而且对人类脊柱的修复也更温和的话，科学界一定会无比乐于接受的。
But that leaves the question of whether we should be transplanting heads at all.
即便如此，也还剩一个问题，那就是我们真的应该发展头部移植这种科技吗？
In 2015 when Canavero first announced his plan for whole head transplant of a human patient,
卡纳维罗2015年首次宣布移植整个人脑的计划时，
an article in Newsweek quoted then president elect of the American Association for Neurological Surgeons,
《新闻周刊》一篇文章就引用了当时美国神经外科医师协会的候任主席的话：
as saying "I would not wish this on anyone. I would not allow anyone to do it to me as there are a lot of things worse than death."
“我不希望任何人接受这一手术，也不允许任何人对我做这项手术，因为很多事都比死亡更可怕。”
Special thanks to our sponsor, Domain.com.
特别感谢Domain.com对本期频道的大力支持。
When you buy a domain name from Domain.com,
在Domain.com网购买一个域名，
you’re taking the first steps in creating an identity and vision for your brand.
您就是为创建自己的品牌身份和愿景卖出了第一步。
No domain extension will help tell your story like a .com or .net domain name.
任何域名扩展名都不能像.com或者.net那样能够讲述你的故事。
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在购买原本就已经十分实惠的域名和虚拟主机时，使用SEEKER优惠券码结账还可以享受折上八五折的优惠喔。
Ok, so head transplants may be a little ways away,
总而言之，头部移植或许还有点儿遥远，
but organ transplants are not! Doctors do them all the time,
但器官移植可不遥远。医生们一直都在做器官移植的手术，
but what happens to your body after you donate your organs? Find out in this video here.
然而，在捐献器官以后，你的身体会发生什么样的变化呢？答案就在这期视频里喔。
Would you sign up for a head transplant without knowing how it could affect humans?
在不了解头部移植的影响之前，你会报名接受这项手术吗？
Let us know in the comments, like this video and don’t forget to subscribe.
快在评论中告诉我们吧，别忘了给我们点赞还有订阅噢。
Thanks for watching.
谢谢大家的观看。
