X-Message-Number: 6029
Date:  Fri, 05 Apr 96 11:30:02
From: Steve Bridge <>
Subject: Cryonics "amators"

To CryoNet
From Steve Bridge, President
Alcor Life Extension Foundation
April 4, 1996

At the risk of ending up with a double post, I'll repost to CryoNet this
message which I already sent to sci.cryonics yesterday.

Steve
****************************************************************

I don't usually monitor sci.cryonics, since I have so much else going on;
but once in a while someone points out a post that I have to respond to.

     Jean-Yves Sireau posted the following comment and question:

>Article 549 of sci.cryonics:
>From: SIREAU Jean-Yves <>
>Newsgroups: sci.cryonics
>Subject: Cryonics researchers are a bunch of amators
>Date: 4 Apr 1996 13:50:17 GMT
>Organization: Fortitude
>Message-ID: <4k0k2p$>

>I have been quite excited about cryonics since having come accross this
>newsgroup, but having read the bios of the staff of Alcor, the largest
>cryonics company (see page http://www.alcor.org/staff.html) I can only
>conclude that the whole thing is hype created by a bunch of amators.
>None of the staff seem to be serious scientists.
>
>Is any serious scientific work being done, or has the scientific world
>left it to the cowboys out to make a quick buck by pouring liquid
>nitrogen on dead people ?
>
>Jean-Yves Sireau

     First, I would point out to Mr. Sireau that Alcor Life Extension
Foundation is a non-profit foundation.  We can't make a quick buck.  No
profits.  Also the full-time staff is comparatively low-paid (and
dedicated); no quick bucks here either.  The average staff salary is just
over $16,000 per year.  As President, I just received a slight raise to
$25,000 per year, for which I work about 60 hours per week.  I took a pay
cut of $15,000 per year to take this job three years ago, because the job
needed doing.

     The scientific world in general has indeed left it to comparative
amateurs to do cryonics -- not because the idea doesn't interest
scientists (it *does*), but *because* there's not much money in it yet.
University science departments in the U.S.A. survive on research grants.
We have had several offers from research hospitals or university
departments to work on cryonics-related research; but the financial
requirements are still too high for us to fund.

     I should also note that Alcor's full-time staff are primarily
administrative, with the exception of Hugh Hixon, M.S. in biochemistry.
For suspensions we bring in more medically qualified and experienced
people, and one of those, a surgical nurse, has recently been helping with
research.

     When Alcor moved from Riverside, California to Scottsdale, Arizona
several years ago, its research work had been crippled by several
incidents.  Jerry Leaf, our vice-president and one of two primary
researchers, had a heart attack and went into suspension.  Mike Darwin,
the other most active researcher, had left Alcor to start his own research
laboratory (BioPreservation, Inc, which Brian Wowk mentioned in his
response).  Finally, the Riverside City Council had issued a prohibition
against Alcor doing further animal research of any kind.

     Once we moved to Scottsdale, we had to rebuild our capability almost
from the beginning by assembling new team members, building a new
laboratory, and gathering funding.  We are making quite a bit of progress
in that regard and hope to be publishing at least some technology
development papers again soon.

     I also want to announce that this week Alcor has hired as a part-time
staff researcher PhD cryobiologist, Dr. Sergei Ochkur, who moved to
Phoenix last year from the Ukraine.  Dr. Ochkur received his doctorate
from the Institute for Problems of Cryobiological Sciences and
Cryomedicine, Kharkov, Ukraine in 1990.  He has 14 years of experience in
the biochemistry of sperm freezing, and he is eager to begin working on
the problems of cryonics.

     Brian Wowk, President of CryoCare, responded to Mr. Sireau's post as
follows:

>Article 550 of sci.cryonics:
>From:  (Brian Wowk)
>Newsgroups: sci.cryonics
>Subject: Re: Cryonics researchers are a bunch of amators
>Date: 4 Apr 96 17:57:54 GMT
>Organization: The University of Manitoba

>    The most prolific publisher of cryonics research in the last
>few years has not been Alcor, but BioPreservation, Inc. (BPI).
>In fact, at this very moment in the sci.cryonics newsgroup there is
>a report by BPI of a major technical breakthrough in respiratory support
>and cooling of cryonics patients.

     BPI is a for-profit company, and has been comparatively aggressive
(and successful) at pursuing small non-cryonics research contracts in the
past three years.  These contracts and other investments have also gained
BPI the income to do more cryonics-related research, and we congratulate
the BPI staff on their progress.  BPI is also fortunate to have two
prolific *writers* as researchers.

     Alcor depends on donations for its research budget; but those
donations have grown significantly in the past year, allowing us to hire a
cryobiologist.  I anticipate those donations will increase as Alcor's
research efforts grow larger, so that someday we may indeed be able to
have several full-time researchers.  You'll be seeing a lot more science
from Alcor this year.



Stephen Bridge, President ()

Alcor Life Extension Foundation
Non-profit cryonic suspension services since 1972.
7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260-6916
Phone (602) 922-9013  (800) 367-2228   FAX (602) 922-9027
 for general requests
http://www.alcor.org


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