Is a full-body transplant possible?

Over the past 50 years, doctors have conducted multiple different types of limb transplants, such as arms, legs, and numerous organ transplants. This has called into question whether a full-body transplant would ever be humanly possible.

To define, a transplant is the process of removing a healthy organ/limb from a donor and giving it to someone who needs it. Transplantation typically uses two surgeries, one for the recipient and another for the donor.  Organ donors/recipients are matched by blood typing, medical urgency, organ size, geographical location, and waiting time. An organ donor can either be deceased or living ( living donors are restricted in the type of organs they can donate). Living donors have the ability to donate their kidney, uterus, and bone marrow. A deceased donor can donate their heart, lungs, pancreas, uterus, kidney, and intestines. With organ donation, there are risks for living donors such as infections, bleeding, and changes in the organ's health. In contrast, the main risk for a person receiving an organ is if the body rejects it.

 A very common misconception is that organ donors received compromised medical care. This is false; the main priority for doctors is always to save the person's life before even considering organ donation.

Multi-organ transplants are when two or more diseased organs are placed with healthy ones, typically from the same donor. The risk of multi-organ transplants is more dangerous than individual ones.

An example of a person receiving a multi-organ transplant is Andy Voge, who was the world's first man to go through a full multi-organ transplant to treat his appendix cancer. Andy's operation lasted seventeen hours, and surgeons worked to replace his liver, stomach, duodenum,  pancreas, spleen, small intestine, and right colon. Before the surgery, Andy was told he had 6 months to live. After the surgery, Andy was cancer-free, and it granted him several more years of living before passing away on October 23, 2024.

Currently, a full body transplant, also known as a head transplant, is not legal under international and national law. Scientifically, a human head transplant is impossible because doctors and scientists still do not know how to fuse a human spinal cord to restore sensory function and motor aid. Additionally, it is very likely that a full body transplant would result in the head being rejected, or brain death after the head is detached. Researchers and experts state that  a full body transplant would be characterized as more of a research project than a medical experiment. Additionally, if the procedure did result in death, the physician would be held criminally liable. So, with all of our current medical knowledge, a full body transplant is not possible.

Works Cited

Cleveland Clinic. “Organ Donation & Transplantation.” Cleveland Clinic, 2023, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/11750-organ-donation-and-transplantation.

“Man Undergoes First-In-World Full Multi-Organ Transplant for Rare Appendix Cancer.” Cleveland Clinic, my.clevelandclinic.org/patient-stories/581-man-undergoes-first-in-world-multi-organ-transplant-to-treat-rare-appendix-cancer.

“Multi-Organ Transplant Surgery.” Duke Health, www.dukehealth.org/treatments/organ-transplants/multi-organ-transplant.

United Network for Organ Sharing. “Facts about Organ Donation | UNOS Organ Donor Facts.” UNOS, 2019, unos.org/transplant/facts/.

Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board