X-Message-Number: 6779 From: Joseph Strout <> Newsgroups: sci.cryonics Subject: Re: How does "Prometheus" fit into mainstream research? Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 13:31:06 -0700 Message-ID: <> References: <> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On 15 Aug 1996, Joel Auslander wrote: > 1) An earlier posting stated that there is currently active research > into preserving organs for transplants. If this is so, wouldn't money > better be spent in furthering this research? Not necessarily. No matter how many transplants you get, you're still going to die (from cancer, pnemonia, car accident, etc.) eventually. When that happens, the only organ that MUST be preserved at all costs is your brain. With that, there's a chance future medicine may be able to save you. Without it, you're a goner for sure. Plus, research on other organs is already fairly well funded. The brain is being neglected (see below...) > 2) If there is even a slight chance that brain cryo-preservation and > revival is within 10 years and $10M, why aren't the normal funding > sources (government grants, Industrial R&D, venture capitalists) > jumping on it? Because cryonics is not politically correct. The Society for Cryobiology explicitly prohibits its members from doing cryonics research, amazingly enough. Curing diseases or improving the quality of life for the elderly is fine, but actually trying to extend the lifespan by a significant amount is considered unacceptable. Part of the reason cryonics is frowned upon is that we are proceeding as best we can without a large research base. But it's difficult to fund large amounts of research when you're frowned up. That's a catch-22 which the Prometheus project *may* be able to finally circumvent. Sincerely, Joe Strout ,------------------------------------------------------------------. | Joseph J. Strout Department of Neuroscience, UCSD | | http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/ | `------------------------------------------------------------------' -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMhTakCBAPyQLTPZ1AQHJNQP/e1jy12kfAnnq17SYEvUr3rij2mJHDi4C Ye5w4gGh17K6uOSOKl8Jc5fF62CFyT6iek0wwjqpimuUN4n66vTgsLjI9nutyhil aDJzimKn0JpK8f0SaBYep81GZCk4Vn3Oi78MJL2AIA4nUPv2uvvbENoYBSCIqhbm YloKoDFqQPc= =WuN7 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6779