B.C. native makes polymer for spinal cords
Material may aid human head transplant
At 24, William Sikkema may hold the “linchpin” to what could become the most brazen experiment in the history of medicine.
The Langley, B.C., native, now a PhD graduate student at Rice University in Houston, has developed a substance dubbed TexasPEG composed of graphene “nanoribbons” and a common polymer to help knit severed spinal cords.
In a recent experiment conducted at Konkuk University in Seoul, researchers severed the spinal cords of five female rats, and swabbed the two stumps with Sikkema’s solution. Four rats drowned in a freak lab flood but, two weeks after surgery, the surviving rat could walk without losing balance, stand on its hind limbs and use its front paws to feed itself pellets.
National Post spoke to Sikkema about how he feels about his role in a proposed head transplant that maverick Italian brain surgeon Sergio Canavero is planning:
“I emailed him, saying, ‘I have this idea. If you’re interested, I could write up a whole proposal and put you in contact with my prof, and we could talk about it more.’
He sent back a three-word email an hour later: “Yes. Do it.
“The hardest part of a human head transplant is reconnecting the spinal cord. And so you really need a solution that would fix that. So I think this will make it work. I think this is the linchpin, the last piece of the puzzle. Sergio has solved most of the pieces of the puzzle.
“I’m actually a little concerned about the (head transplant). I’m a chemist; I’m not a biologist or a surgeon. I get my information from Sergio. But from other surgeons I’ve talked to, they seem relatively skeptical it will work at all.
“The risk is (Valery Spiridonov, the first human volunteer) could die. That’s a pretty obvious risk. But I think if anything, my material mitigates that risk.
“My dad and mom are both scientists. My dad is a physics prof at Trinity Western University; my mom is a horticulturist. We’ve talked about (the head transplant) a little bit. They just think it’s fantastic this material has the promise to do spinal cord repair; they haven’t told me not to do the science because it’s ‘evil.’ They realize people were opposed to heart transplants and blood transfusions, even, because it sounded weird and strange.
“(When not in the lab) I play the violin. I keep bees. Right now I’m preparing for my wedding (Dec. 28). We’re getting married in Kelowna.”
I THINK THIS WILL MAKE IT WORK. I THINK THIS IS THE LINCHPIN, THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE. SERGIO (CANAVERO) HAS SOLVED MOST OF THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE. — WILLIAM SIKKEMA, RICE UNIVERSITY THE HARDEST PART OF A HUMAN HEAD TRANSPLANT IS RECONNECTING THE SPINAL CORD.