Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein details the life of eccentric scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who discovers the secret of generating life, ultimately leading to the creation of a creature he soon rejects as a grotesque monster. The novel had a significant influence across literature, epitomising the genre of horror fiction. However, reading it brings to mind an inevitable question — is Frankenstein’s monster be scientifically plausible?

Vladimir Demikhov was a pioneering surgeon in the Soviet Union and is considered by many scientists to be the father of heart and lung transplantation. He made significant contributions to organ transplant and coronary surgery, performing organ transplants in dogs and studying their reaction after various organs were introduced or removed. His most unusual experiment involved head transplantation, whereby the head and upper body of a puppy was grafted onto the neck of a mongrel.

Dr. Robert J. White, an American neurosurgeon, became inspired by his work and began performing head transplants on rhesus monkeys. His experiments were generally unsuccessful; the monkeys would die a few days later due to immunorejection. His ultimate desire was to perform similar transplants on living humans.

Could Demikhov and White be considered modern-day Frankensteins? Perhaps. But without Demikhov and the other Victor Frankensteins around the world with their unbridled thirst for knowledge, the field of transplantation may not have recorded the same progress that it did.