Last November, Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero and partner Dr. Xiaoping Ren of Harbin Medical University in China performed the world’s first successful human head transplant (albeit with the major caveat that it was done on a corpse).
The story prompted a response from Pope Francis who stated: "Science, like any other human activity, has its limits which should be observed for the good of humanity itself, and requires a sense of ethical responsibility.”
The Holy Father continued: “The true measure of progress, as Blessed Paul VI recalled, is that which is aimed at the good of each man and the whole man.”
The first is the “centrality of the human person, which is to be considered an end and not a means.” Man must be in harmony with creation, not as a despot about God's inheritance, but as a loving guardian of the work of the Creator.
The second principle is that scientific and technological progress should serve the good of all humanity, and not just a few. This will help avoid new inequalities in the future based on knowledge, and prevent widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.
Finally, the Holy Father reminded the world that not everything that is technically possible or feasible is ethically acceptable.
Whether or not transplants will “work”, the fact is the technology to perform them is being developed in China right now.
Such advancements, if they can be termed such, raise a host of medico-moral questions. Among the most significant of these questions is the definition and determination of death.
What is death?
In the United States, the Uniform Determination of Death Act states that an individual who sustains irreversible cessation of all functions of their entire brain, including their brainstem, is dead.
If one’s head can be transplanted onto another body, at what point can medical science determine that all the functions of a person’s brain have irreversibly ceased?
No less a concern is the question: How is a person's “identity” determined?
The idea of “Who I am” is an autonomous individual, the possessor of a unique essence that has rights that cannot be ethically violated.
Canavero and Ren have prompted plenty of skepticism from critics challenging both the scientific feasibility and ethical implications of head transplants, with some prominent doctors rejecting the notion that such a procedure is even possible.
Canavero and Ren have reported successes in performing mice, monkey, and even rat head transplant operations.
Such research will bring with it moral and ethical questions which will impact the very definition of what it means to be human and alive.
The Holy Father is wise in weighing in on this issue now and in encouraging theologians as well as doctor to consider the far-reaching implications of such technological research.
Soon, what was once a horror story (the Frankenstein monster) may become the science of tomorrow.
The question is: will this be to the benefit or detriment of the human person and society as a whole?
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