36-hour head transplant of 11 million USD to be carried out in China in 2017

Baku. 12 September. REPORT.AZ/ Italian doctor Sergio Canavero, along with his Chinese colleague Ren Xiaoping, is set to conduct the world’s first head transplant on a 30-year-old Russian patient suffering from a rare disease. The operation is planned for December 2017, Report informs referring to foreign media.

The project was first announced in 2013, and the man who volunteered for the procedure is Russian Valery Spiridonov, who suffers from the extremely rare, progressive Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.

“Canavero initially joked it would be a Christmas present, but now this is becoming a reality".

Canavero explained to RT why a Chinese partner was so important to have.

“China wants to do it because they want to win the Nobel prize. They want to prove themselves [as] a scientific powerhouse. So it’s the new space race,” the Italian surgeon said.

The controversy about organ donors in China is that death row inmates have allegedly been the main source, with the authorities promising to ban the use of their organs. However, many argue that the practice will carry on, but the organs would be termed “donations.”

The operation is planned to take place at Harbin Medical University in China's northeast Heilongjiang province. It will cost about $11 million, and will last for about 36 hours.