X-Message-Number: 26640 Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 17:21:33 -0700 (PDT) From: "D. den Otter" <> Subject: Re: Chemopreservation Mike Perry wrote: <<This is a note of appreciation for the comments on chemopreservation, freeze drying, and such (Skrecky, den Otter, and also Stodolsky). I want to be fully informed of possible difficulties and their possible remedies before proceeding.>> Actually, as mentioned in my previous post, I think we can (and should) proceed with setting up an organization / institute before deciding on a (primary) preservation protocol. Even without funding, space & equipment the organization could be quite useful as an intermediary between those seeking preservation (of any kind) and various service providers. <<One possibility that has been noted is plastination, which in some ways sounds great but could have a devastating downside. I am referring to "defatting" that must be done (according to what I read some months ago), which might destroy structure encoding memories and such. Does anyone know about this?>> Yes, the defatting is a bit worrisome, and definitely needs to be looked into further. I'll try contacting some of the 'experts', though I don't think there has been much research into the effects of plastination on memory storage. To the average plastinate user / maker, this is simply irrelevant. In any case it seems that plastination does preserve organs and tissues 'down to the microscopic level', so it can't be completely useless. Also, iirc memory formation is protein rather than lipid-based; the fats are (mostly?) found in cell membranes and myelin, both of which may be more or less 'expendable'. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26640