X-Message-Number: 4877
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 21:36:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: how to failure proof cryonics

                  HOW TO FAILURE PROOF CRYONICS
               (From Longevity Report 35 October 1992)
                        By Doug Skrecky

     Here's the scenario. Upon death the "patient" is frozen and then
 stored at liquid nitrogen temperatures. After a wait, be it several
 decades or even centuries the funds for maintaining suspension are
 gradually depleted resulting in the "corpse" thawing and then being
 cremated. Cryonics skeptics nod their heads knowingly and claim that
 they knew all along that it would never work. 
     Here's another scenario. Upon death the "patient" is frozen and then
 stored at liquid nitrogen temperatures. After a wait, be it several
 decades or even centuries the funds for maintaining suspension are
 gradually depleted. However before all the funds are gone the "patient" 
 is freeze-dried and stored at room temperature in a sealed time capsule
 for several more centuries or even millenia till reanimation technology
 is developed and then perfected. The patient is then resusitated and
 begins a new life in a wonderous world far removed from the sorrows of
 the present era. 
     Most people who examine cryonics and then reject it do so not because
 of either religious convictions or the price tag. Instead the reason is
 a very pragmatic one. Cryonics is rejected for the simple reason that it
 is judged unlikely to succeed. If the idea behind cryonics: preservation
 of the body in hopes of future resurrection, is ever to be taken
 seriously as a "mainstream"  funeral option like cremation the specter of
 an uncontrolled thawing will have to be addressed directly and provisions
 for its avoidance implimented as a keystone of the cryonics movement. 
 Then no matter what happens in the interim the body of the "patient" 
 would be guarenteed to survive in whatever form till the time arrives for
 resurrection. 
     Fortunately the cost of implimenting such cryonic insurance is zero. 
 All that need be done is to alter the cryonics contract with a clause
 stating that if in the future thawing is judged to be imminent that steps
 will then be taken to freeze-dry the body and so avert its destruction. 
     As an additional step it would likely be helpful to treat the patient
 with a considerable amount of a "desicco-protectant" such as sucrose in
 addition to conventional cryoprotectants during the initial cryonic
 perfusion. Sucrose also has potent cryoprotectant properties itself, as
 for instance adding it to a DMSO solution improves the survival of
 oocytes that are frozen and then thawed. *1
     Since funds for freeze-drying will be limited when and if the time
 ever comes for it's implimentation, a cost effective method for
 achieving it would be required. Fortunately such a method has already
 been developed by research scientists. It is called freeze substitution. 
 Instead of subjecting frozen tissue to a vaccuum the tissue is instead
 exposed to a bath of liquid acetone or sometimes ethanol at sub-zero
 temperatures. These solvents first rapidly melt the ice in the tissue and
 then after the bath is drained rapidly evaporate themselves leaving
 desiccated tissue which is comparible in structural integrity to vaccuum
 freeze-dryed tissue. *2 Freeze substitution is much faster in action than
 a vaccuum. The reader is invited to attempt an experiment to illustrate
 this. First store a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the freezer over night. 
 The next day place an ice cube in the rubbing alcohol, which remains in
 the freezer. The ice cube will melt with a speed which has to be seen to
 be believed. 
      On a practical note in an emergency freeze substitution might be
 implimented using the existing cryonic suspension facilities themselves. 
 First replace the liquid nitrogen with carbon dioxide dry ice so as to
 allow desiccation to proceed. Circulate acetone inside the storage
 facilities so that it is in contact with the body of the patient. Filter
 the acetone through a bed of desiccant to remove any moisture. Recycle
 the acetone into the storage facility. When all of the moisture is
 removed drain the acetone bath and circulate dry inert gas through the
 circulatory system of the body for a short while till all of the acetone
 is also removed. 
 *1 "Ultrarapid Freezing and Thawing of Hamster Oocytes" 136-140 Vol.35
 No.2 1990 The Journal of Reproductive Medicine
 *2 "Freeze-Substitution" 209-221 Vol.127 No.2 1982 Journal of Microscopy

 (Letter to the editor Longevity Report 36 December 1992)
 From Professor R.C.W. Ettinger
 "How to Failure Proof Cryonics" 
     I admire Mr. Skrecky's initiative and familiarity with many sciences,
 but his suggestion to circulate acetone or alcohol through the body (to
 remove ice) brings me up short. After all, just a tiny bit of alcohol in
 the living brain produces serious damage (partly by dissolving fatty
 nerve insulators);  soaking everything with large amounts of alcohol--let
 alone acetone--seems virtually certain to produce major damage. One
 might speculate that this would still be less serious than available
 alternatives, but we certainly need more information. 
 
(Letter to the editor Longevity Report 37 February 1993)
 From Mr. Douglas Skrecky
     I agree with Professor R.C.W. Ettinger's criticism of using acetone
 as a substitution medium, which was suggested in my article "How to
 Failure Proof Cryonics". Acetone has been used with good results in
 freeze substitution, but the reason it is often used is not due to the
 fact that it is the best possible solvent. It isn't. Rather the reason
 it is used seems to be because it is cheap. It is probably too cheap for
 serious use as a solvent in critical applications. "Dessication as
 Cryonic Insurance" addresses Professor Ettinger's present concerns, but
 I hope that he will continue to provide valuable feedback if any other
 concerns arise. 
              ............to be continued.........


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