Dr. Sergio Canavero wants to be the modern-day Victor Frankenstein. Create a human from parts. Two parts anyway. A head and a body. Yes, he wants to do a head transplant. His proof that it works? Stimulating the nerves of the spinal cord to test his efforts.
Remember high school biology? That poor frog with his head cut off? Yet applying a current to its spinal cord made the legs jump. It's what nerves and muscles do when stimulated. It's not life; it's a parlor trick--for lack of a better word.
So, could Dr. Canavero's experiment work? This head transplant? Maybe, anything is possible. But smart money is on not a chance.
What of the original Frankenstein? Art and life often intertwine and had it not been for a volcanic eruption on the other side of the world Marry Shelly's classic might never have been written.
I've blogged about this before:
https://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/frankenstein-and-creativity/ https://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/more-decapitation-and-reanimating-the-dead/