X-Message-Number: 3461
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: SCI.CRYONICS: re: re #3301 by myself
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 1994 20:44:04 -0800 (PST)


Hi again!

After sending my previous message on #3301, it occurred to me that one point
I made might seem hard to understand. Here is some clarification:

As I said, "we might be able to recover previous connections of a neuron by
reading them off from the neuron's DNA". I did not mean here that the 
connections were genetically determined; what I meant was that some genes
would be actively involved in protein synthesis, that we could use the fact
that they were engaged in protein synthesis to provide clues about just 
what that neuron's connections were.

I will add that several other factors are involved in establishing a nerve
connection during development of brains: attractants, substances which make
some nerve fibers (and not others) stick to structures along the way, and
so on. All of these occur in small concentrations and may remain actively
in use by the neuron to maintain its own connections, even in adult neurons.
All such structures might be used as clues to recover connectivity. Of course,
that's not a proof of anything (notice the word "might" and "may").

If the Cryonics Institute results are verified, that will take a major load
off cryonics. The same is true if  we can vitrify and store brains.

			Long long life,

			   Thomas Donaldson

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