(Photo: EPA) 
 
 An Italian doctor announced Friday that he will soon perform the world’s first human head transplant in China because medical communities in the United States and Europe would not permit the controversial procedure. Doctors have, in recent years, “reattached” a severely damaged spinal cord in a young child, but the key-word is “damaged”, not “completely severed”; there’s enough connection still to work with, to repair and reinforce. In the press release, Canavero said they have several papers relating to head transplants that are currently under peer review and will appear in “renowned scientific medical journals”—although he did not specify which journals. A news release put out Thursday by OOOM, the media company handling Canavero’s press announced that Spiridonov, “who for a long period was considered for being the first transplant patient, will not be the first person whose head will receive a new body.” 
 
 It was unclear why Spiridonov was no longer involved. He said patients might be better served if Canavero focused on spinal reconstruction, not transplants. Professor Canavero always said we will be ready at the end of 2017 and—if there is a strong power in China behind the project — it seems it definitely will be at the end of this year or the start of next year that the entire procedure will be conducted.” 
 
 At present, Canavero and Xiaoping Ren, of the Harbin Medical University in China, have presented little evidence to convince the scientific community their plan will be a success.  Neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero is in the news again, claiming to have performed the first successful human head transplant .  The world's first human head transplant has allegedly been performed on a corpse in an 18 hour operation which successfully connected the spine, nerves and blood vessels of two people. That’s just the start of what’s required for a working bodily system. Canavero is aware of the danger and places some responsibility with the patient, who has volunteered. In the interest of full disclosure, I do not know Dr Sergio Canavero, he’s done nothing to me directly that I’m aware of.
– The first step in what USA Today says would be an "audacious" therapy reportedly took place in China Friday: the world's first human head transplant, achieved with two corpses. And Sergio Canavero—the Italian doctor behind the alleged procedure, says he plans to do the same thing next on two brain-dead patients, followed by an "imminent" surgery with a living one, the Telegraph reports. Per Newsweek, Canavero described the procedure Friday at a Vienna press conference, explaining that his team had taken the head off one body and placed it on another, fusing the spine, blood vessels, and nerves. The procedure with a living patient is set to happen in China in December, mainly because the US and Europe refuse to host it. Medical experts say there haven't been enough studies or trials, and cite both ethical issues and the potential for "incredible pain." Mystery surrounds the living patient at the center of the storm, whose healthy head would be transferred to the disease-free body of a brain-dead patient—technically making this a "body transplant," not a head transplant, USA Today notes. That recipient was originally said to be 33-year-old Russian Valery Spiridonov, who suffers from a muscle-wasting disease. But an April release cited by Newsweek said a Chinese citizen would undergo the procedure, not Spiridonov, and the magazine on Friday quoted Canavero as saying a "high number" of people have volunteered. Canavero gives the procedure a 90% chance of success. Meanwhile, a Guardian columnist takes issue with Canavero's work. "The human body is not modular," writes Dean Burnett. "You can't swap bits around like you would Lego blocks." (Canavero, way back when this all started.)