One surgeon's obsession with head transplants

788,645 plays|

Max Levy |

TED-Ed

• June 2024

In 1970, neurosurgeon Robert White and his team carted two monkeys into an operating room to conduct an ambitious experiment. The objective was to connect the head of Monkey A to the body of Monkey B, in what he considered a whole-body transplant, with the ultimate goal of one day performing this surgery on humans. Is such a feat even medically possible? And is it ethical? Max G. Levy investigates. [Directed by Anton Bogaty, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Greg Chudzik, Cem Misirlioglu].