An Italian surgeon who plans to perform the world’s first head transplant on a human says he has succeeded in performing the procedure on a monkey.
 
Dr Sergio Canavero claims that he performed the shocking experiment at Harbin Medical University in China, and said: ‘The monkey fully survived the procedure without any neurological injury of whatever kind.’
 
Describing the procedure, Dr Canavero explained how a team of researchers connected the blood supply between the head and a new body -  after the monkey’s head was reportedly chilled to -15c.
 
However, Canavero’s claims are entirely unverified at present - with no scientific confirmation of the operation’s success.
 
The maverick surgeon already has his first willing participant for a proposed human head transplant, Valery Spiridonov - who is willing to undergo the procedure despite the enormous unknown risks.
 
Canavero previously said that the ‘final goal’ of his work is to achieve immortality - with interest emerging from older patients looking to graft their heads onto younger bodies.
 
Speaking last year, he said: ‘There are a few funds working on prolonging life expectancy, and they are well-funded.’
 
Yahoo News