© Anne SchönhartingYesterday Dr. Benjamin Carson and his team at the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital started to separate the German twins Lea and Tabea who are joined at the head. After some hours the surgery had to be interrupted because the girls weren't doing well. Right now the doctors are evaluating when to continue the separation, and they hope to restart in the next three days. If you believe in a god, pray for Lea, Tabea and their parents.
No matter of the outcome of the surgery the abilities of modern medicine impress me ad infinitum. Not only spectacular separations of Siamese twins but also more "simple" things like heart surgeries or (banal) antibiotics make me freak out regularly. Being able to cure people from a nasty cold or sick coronary vessels is not really magic, but a great competency nonetheless.