A scientist cuts off the head and puts it on a new body. It sounds like a horror story, but a real neurosurgeonA surgeon specialising in the brain, spinal cord and nervous system.   says he is going to do it.

Sergio Canavero plans to transplant the head of a sick person onto a healthy body.

Doctors can already transplant hearts, livers and kidneys. They can even give people new hands and a new face. But many say a full body transplant is impossible.

When people damage their spines, they lose control and feeling in their body. Canavero says a head transplant could help them.

But it raises many questions. Can someone agree to have their head cut off? Are you the same person after the operation? What happens to your personality? What happens to your soul?

Canavero says people are shocked by his ideas, but they said the same things about kidney and heart transplants.

His inspiration was Robert White, who dedicated his life to head transplants. He wanted to use his ideas to save the brilliant mind of Stephen HawkingOne of the most revered modern physicists, he is best known for his book A Brief History of Time. by giving him a new body.

However, others think it is too dangerous and won't work. In experiments, animals died after a few hours or days. Patients may not be able to control their bodies and will have to take drugs to keep them alive.

Scientist Paul Root Wolpe says it is a terrible idea. Our body is just as important as our brain. We will lose a big part of who we are without both.

Another scientist, Dean Burnett, says Canavero makes bold claims but has done nothing. In 2017, he said he transplanted the first human head. In reality, he operated on a corpse. "Head transplants are fake news," says scientist Arthur Caplan.

In 1970, Robert White put one monkey's head on another. It did not live very long. But if Canavero's plan works, we will be able to change our bodies when we get old.

Yes: If we have the technology we should use it to make people's lives better. It may seem shocking or disgusting, but in the future, it will become normal.

No: This is not the same as getting a new kidney. If you put your brain in someone's else body, you won't be you anymore. You will be a different person.

Or: Maybe, but not yet. We need more experiments to make sure the technology works and is safe to try on humans.