X-Message-Number: 16393 Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 23:24:11 -0700 From: Mike Perry <> Subject: Storing DNA George Smith, #16380, lists some reasons for storing one's DNA, replying to Louis Epstein's comment in #16377: "But is there any reasonable expectation that only fragments of DNA can possibly result in the restoration of the deceased self,as opposed to the creation of a clone of the body of the deceased? "By what scientific means could more than that possibly happen?" Something to add is that yes, there definitely is something beyond a (tabula rasa) clone that could be created from DNA, that is, you would not simply have to start over again with a baby. Instead, it should be possible to make a fully formed adult, complete with memories deduced from surviving records. This recreation would know his/her name, be able to speak the same language as before, know largely the same things, be familiar with places the original was familiar with (deducible from photographs and other sources). Indeed, your reprogrammed clone should seem indistinguishable from the original to all others, else they must have information about the person that you didn't use. Arguably, the clone would be just as much the same person as if the latter had suffered some bad head injury or disease but later recovered full functionality. (Twin studies also suggest that a *reprogrammed* clone would indeed be similar to the original.) There are some other interesting arguments, based on the idea of multiple universes, that we could in fact recover an authentic individual--but I'll skip these for now. But in regard to cloning, in addition to storing a cell sample it would be advisable to store tapes, letters, diaries, and so on to further assist in the reconstruction. All this could serve as a backup to cryonics arrangements, or as a better-than-nothing alternative (quite a bit better, in my view) if such arrangements could not be put in place. Mike Perry Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=16393