Neurosurgeon says brain transplant will bring dead 'back to life'

He added that many controlled studies on different animals had been conducted in South Korea and China and that the results were "unambiguous".  "The spinal cord – and with it

the ability to move – can be entirely restored," he said.  Plans to perform the world's first brain transplant are already underway, the surgeon said.  Despite widespread

scepticism in the scientific community, Prof Canavero said a brain transplant had "many advantages". He said: ”First, there is barely any immune reaction, which means the problem

of rejection does not exist.  "The brain is, in a manner of speaking, a neutral organ." He said one problem was the brain would be hosted in an entirely different body, the impact

of which remained to be seen. Nevertheless, Prof Canavero said he hoped to bring back to life the first patients currently frozen at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.  Should

he succeed in resurrecting the dead, Prof Canavero said the implications would permanently alter mankind's understanding of the world - and that religion "will be swept away

forever".  He said: "They (religous beliefs) will no longer be necessary, as humans will no longer need to be afraid of death. "They will know as a scientific fact that our

consciousness – or whatever it is – survives death. We no longer need a Catholic Church, no Judaism and no Islam because religions in general will be obsolete." By extension, the answer

to the question "what is the meaning of life?" would also be redundant, the surgeon said.  "If we take hope out of life, out of the human equation, then what remains?,"

Prof Canavero explained.