X-Message-Number: 2112 Date: Thu, 15 Apr 93 10:38:09 PDT From: Subject: CRYONICS Re: Rainforest Species Editorial Paul Wakfer writes: > I don't think these ideas of saving > species by freezing them which have been widely publicized for some time > now, are of any great benefit for cryonics. I disagree. Sure, the first step along these lines are to simply save their DNA. That's the perfectly reasonable thing to do with the limited resources available. (Notice by the way that side effects from even this effort may contribute breakthroughs that many cryonisists hope for in order to be able to clone new bodies or body parts.) The important thing to notice is that many scientists are becoming very concerned that simply preserving a species does not mean that it can be reintroduced successfuly into the wild. Many captive breeding programs are failing because the reintroduced animals lack the knowledge and experience needed to survive. If the captured animals could be frozen and then reintroduced much later when suitable environments have been prepared, those species would have a much better chance of survival. I think that this realization will happen very naturally as a result of these attempts to preserve species even though the initial efforts will be to only preserve their DNA, and that the consequences of that realization will be very positive for cryonics. - Daniel Green Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2112