It's another leap in medical science as an Italian neurosurgeon claims he will probably conduct the world's first human head transplant by 2017. The surgeon asserts that the prospect does not worry him as his patient will have a 90% chance of survival.

The Italian neurosurgeon, Sergio Canavero claimed the transplant in a two-and-a-half hour presentation on Friday at a conference of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons in Annapolis, Maryland, which hosted among others, the prospective volunteer for the world's first head transplant, a Russian, Valery Spiridonov aged 30 and suffering from a incurable muscle wasting ailment called Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.

Canavero comprehensively described the procedure of using a nano blade to mend a severed spinal cord along with the use of an electrical current to accelerate the reconnection of severed nerve fibers.

Canavero likened his project to former president John F. Kennedy's Apollo mission and so called on billionaires to fund the approximately $100 million project.

The optimist Canavero expects that after the 36 hours surgery, the wheelchair-bound Spiridonov would be walking within a year of receiving his new body.

However, Canavero did not deny the possibility of other major problems that could be expected with such a drastic operation. The project has therefore, received a skeptical welcome in the United States.

Marc Stevens, an orthopedic surgeon, attending the conference, opined that though Canavero's presentation was intriguing, more research should be done on healing spinal cord injuries instead of attempting a head transplant.

Jerry Silver, a neurosciences professor, cautioned that spinal reconnection science touted by Canavero was far from ready.