Are Two Heads Better?

[David Morris]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=426765

Blinking unhappily in the daylight as Demikhov paraded it on its lead,
this unfortunate beast had been created by grafting the head and upper
body of a small puppy on to the head and body of a fully-grown
mastiff, to form one grotesque creature with two heads. The visitors
watched in horror and fascination as both of the beast's mouths lapped
greedily at a bowl of milk proffered by Demikhov's assistants.

Resembling something dreamed up by Mary Shelley's Dr Frankenstein, it
seemed literally incredible. But as the Soviet propaganda machine
informed the world, this canine curiosity was both very real - and a
scientific triumph.

As revealed in a National Geographic documentary to be screened later
this month, the creation of the two-headed dog was the first step in
an astonishing race by Cold War scientists to achieve the seemingly
impossible - the first ever human head transplant. In pursuing this
medical goal, Vladimir Demikhov - and his American rival, Robert White
- may seem to be the epitome of immoral scientists who ignored all
ethical considerations in their pursuit of scientific advance. But in
their own minds, they were brilliant pioneers prepared to think the
unthinkable for the greater good of mankind.