A former neurosurgeon, who worked with the UKs National Health Service, has a surprising prediction for the next decade. He claims human head transplants will become a reality by 2030.

Dr Bruce Matthew said this during an interview with The Telegraph on December 21. He says the revelation came to him while he was working on a science-fiction novel with futurist author Michal J Lee.

Ifyou transplant the brain and keep the brain and spinal cord together itsactually not impossible. The spinal cord is the most profound thing imaginable.You need to keep the brain connected to the spinal cord. The idea that you cut the spinal cord isutterly ridiculous, he told The Telegraph.

Previous(unsuccessful) attempts at the controversial procedure focused on severing thespinal cord from the brain and then transplanting the head after connectingnerves, blood vessels and meninges (the covering of the brain and spinal cord).

This happened in2017 on a human corpse. Controversial Italian neurosurgeon Dr Sergio Canavero and DrXiaoping Ren of Harbin Medical University, China carried out the 18-hour procedurewhich was later slammed by scientists and bioethicists the world over.

Dr Matthew admits that the future process will be tricky because shifting the spinal cord intact is impossible.

It will take a number of advancements and incremental steps but it will probably happen in the next 10 years, said the former surgeon, who was a clinical lead for neurosurgery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK and has 25 years of experience.

Hesays the feat will be accomplished with the help of cryogenics (freezing deadbodies in nitrogen), robotics, stem cell therapy and artificial intelligence.

Who will head transplants help?

People with terminal illnesses whose brains are still intact, those with neurodegenerative muscle diseases, the rich who have already frozen their bodies it costs somewhere between $28,000 and $200,000 in hopes of reincarnation.

Basically,those with an intact brain.

Why are head transplants so controversial?

Apartfrom the medical limitations and lack of scientific research on the topic, thebiggest issue that arises is an ethical one.

Doesthe person remain the same person? Will identity also be transferred? DrMatthew says shifting the spinal cord means shifting a persons consciousness. Asfor DNA, hes proposed shifting stem cells from the patient to the donors bodyso a new colony of original DNA can be built.

Scientists also say the donor body runs the risk of being paralysed because of the procedure. Bioethicists say the surgery will have profound psychological, legal and moral complications.

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Transplanting human heads on to another body possible by 2030 - Samaa News