It looks like the end for Jan Compton when she loses her head in a road accident. But mad scientist Bill Cortner is not ready to give up on her.

He recovers her head and revives it in his laboratoryA room for scientific experiments or research. . Then he sets out to find a new body for her - by murdering another woman.

This is the plot of the 1962 horror film The Brain That Wouldn't Die. Now Dr Cortner's scheme could actually become possible - although hopefully without the murder.

In 1972 American neurosurgeonA surgeon specialising in the brain, spinal cord and nervous system.   Robert J White managed to attach the head of a monkey to the body of another. The creature was able to hear, smell and see, and even tried to bite one of the researchers, but died eight days later.

Now another neurosurgeon, Sergio Canavero, says it will soon be possible to take the head from a sick person's body and attach it to the body of someone else. He has already carried out transplantsWhen a part of one individual's body is given to another in surgery. on dogs, monkeys and dead human bodies.

Such experiments are very controversialCausing a lot of angry public discussion and disagreement. . Robert White was attacked as "Dr Butcher" by animal-lovers.

In 2016 a neurosurgery association said that transplanting human heads was unethicalNot morally right. . But Canavero has carried on with his experiments in China, which has less strict standards.

The idea raises many questions. One is whether the operation could really work on humans. It involves cutting the spinal cordThe bundle of nerves enclosed in the spine, connecting parts of the body to the brain. , and no one has found a way of reconnecting it. As a result the patient would end up paralysedUnable to move. .

An argument for the other side is that many patients are already paralysed and at risk of several organs failing. In that case a transplant could prolong their lives.

But Dr Allen Furr, who has written a book on the subject, believes they would suffer chronicA condition which recurs over time, or lasts for several years. pain: "The quality of life would be tragic."¹

Even if the operation worked, the patient would face an identity crisis: what would it feel like to have someone else's body?

But are they really a good idea?

Yes: It would be wonderful if a young person with terrible disabilities could have a new body, or an older person's life could be prolonged. We should celebrate the amazing ideas of scientists.

No: The main beneficiaries would be the powerful people who could afford such an operation. With their heads transplanted onto a succession of younger bodies, they could dominate the world for centuries.

Or... Canavero's latest idea is to transplant a person's brain to a cloneTo create an exact genetic copy of an organism or cell. , which would overcome some objections. But whether humans could or should be cloned is another area of passionate debate.

Laboratory - A room for scientific experiments or research.

Neurosurgeon - A surgeon specialising in the brain, spinal cord and nervous system.  

Transplants - When a part of one individual's body is given to another in surgery.

Controversial - Causing a lot of angry public discussion and disagreement.

Unethical - Not morally right.

Spinal cord - The bundle of nerves enclosed in the spine, connecting parts of the body to the brain.

Paralysed - Unable to move.

Chronic - A condition which recurs over time, or lasts for several years.

Clone - To create an exact genetic copy of an organism or cell.