Ren Xiaoping (; born 1961) is a Chinese

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeleta ...

surgeon, and is most well-known for being part of the team that achieved the first hand transplant in China. , he was a controversial figure as he announced his intent to perform a human

head transplant A head transplant is an experimental surgical operation involving the grafting of one organism's head onto the body of another. In many experiments, the recipient's head has not been removed, but in others it has been. Experimentation in animals ...

, an operation that has never been done before. Many criticized Ren, stating that the surgery would be impossible.

Education and early work

Ren attended the

Harbin Medical University Harbin Medical University (HMU) () is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Hea ...

in Harbin, China, and received his M.D. in 1984. From 1996 to 2000, he continued his education, performing research relating to anatomy and hand surgery. During this period, specifically on January 25, 1999, the first hand transplant was performed on Mathew Scott. Ren was an influential figure in this achievement.

Head transplant

Mouse experiments

Prior to his announcement of attempting the first human head transplant, Ren had spent years performing the same surgery on mice. However, the results of most of the experiments ended with the subject dying. One such experiment involved 40 Kunming mice, and another 40 C57 wild type mice. Out of 80 mice selected, only 18 survived, and only for three hours. In those three hours, the mice were capable of breathing and acting normally. Ren has also stated to have practiced the procedure on human cadavers, but has yet to reveal any more information.

Criticism

Because of Ren's lack of success, many are skeptical of his idea. One example is that of Dr. Huang Jiefu, who commented that a spine's

neuron A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, electrically excitable cell (biology), cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous ...

s can't be reconnected once the spine is cut. Many also criticize the procedure for being too expensive, and requiring too many people. Some also claim that such a surgery is unethical. Dr. Hunt Batjer, past-President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, has stated in reference to the surgery that he "would not allow anyone to do it to me as there are a lot of things worse than death."

Human testing

In 2015, Valery Spiridonov announced he would volunteer as the body recipient for the transplant. Spiridonov suffers from musculoskeletal atrophy. He claimed that he had no plans of backing out of the surgery. He later backed out after marrying and having a son with his new wife. In November 2017,

Sergio Canavero Sergio Canavero (born 1964) is an Italian neurosurgeon known for his controversial claims about the near-term feasibility of head transplantation— the grafting of a head onto a new body— in humans. He made headlines in 2015 when he publicly ...

claimed that a team led by Ren had performed the first successful human head transplant. This procedure did not involve Spiridonov. To date, no evidence has been presented of a successful procedure. Spiridonov has expressed hope that Ren and Canavero would provide more transparency into "what went wrong in China and why."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ren, Xiaoping Chinese orthopedic surgeons Living people 1961 births 20th-century Chinese physicians 21st-century Chinese physicians Harbin Medical University alumni Academic staff of Harbin Medical University 20th-century surgeons