It sounds like something out of a horror movie, but apparently science fiction could become science fact as early as next year.
A Russian man named Valery Spiridonov has volunteered to undergo the first human head transplant, having his head surgically transplanted to a donor body, The Atlantic reported.
Italian neuroscientist Dr. Sergio Canavero announced his plans last year to do the surgery by 2017.
Spiridonov has Werdnig-Hoffman disease, CBS News reported. It is a rare genetic disorder that breaks down muscles. It also kills nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Spiridonov is in a wheelchair and can only feed himself, type and control the chair with a joystick.
According to The Atlantic, a surgeon in China has already performed the surgery on a mouse and a monkey with success.
Dr. Xiaoping Ren has teamed up with Canavero for Spiridonov's procedure, which will cost between $10 million and $100 million and will use 80 surgeons.
But many are questioning the plan, calling it junk science and saying it's raising false hope, The Atlantic reported.
Canavero says the surgery could have a 90 percent or more success rate, CBS News reported.
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