X-Message-Number: 9447 From: Olaf Henny <> Subject: Platt vs. Ettinger, My 2CW Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 01:31:32 -0700 To Messrs. Charles Platt and Robert Ettinger To quote from James L. Halperin's "The First Immortal" Page 143, 4th Paragraph (the fictitious date was October 31, 1999): "Such planning, and teamwork between competing organizations, was a rare luxury in twentieth century cryonic suspensions. Unfortunately, some of the personnel employed by the half-dozen or so legitimate cryonics facilities had recently become inordinately cutthroat, which had impeded the already-slow incursion of cryonics into general public acceptance. Internet "newsgroups" in particular had become an embarrassment to the cryonics field, with scientists and medical personnel from various organizations constantly posting flames about techniques and policies of other facilities." I have been following the discourse of you two gentlemen in this forum now for awhile and come to the following conclusion: Charles Platt is reasonably well informed (for an outsider)about the cryopreservation techniques employed by C.I., but not about the detailed research- and actual patient care events, which led to the evolvement of these techniques. Now here I am making a couple of assumptions, which I believe to be reasonable: - Mr. Ettinger has his CPC (cryopreservation contract) with C.I. - Mr. Platt Does not have his CPC with C.I. Conclusion: Mr. Ettinger's interest in the integrity of C.I.'s cooling procedures is much more immediate than Mr. Platt's, and I would be astonished, if Mr. Ettinger would not be grateful to Mr. Platt, if he would have some suggestions, which might enhance C.I.'s procedures or point out some potential pitfalls in a private discussion between two knowledgeable scientists, after all his life may well depend on the best technology today's science can provide. However this is not what is taking place here. Charles Platt appears to be intent on running C.I.'s cool-down program from afar, without having ultimately to assume any responsibility, either professionally or financially, for suggesting an itinerary for C.I.'s research. Quote Charles Platt: "To obtain more thorough verification, all CI has to do is run a properly controlled, properly documented animal study using EXACTLY the same protocol as is applied to CI patients, and publish the results. Why bother? Because, as I have pointed out, the use of 75% (v/v) glycerol without any gradual increase in concentration, followed by very slow freezing, is contrary to basic and widely accepted principles of cryobiology, and almost certainly causes severe damage. If an organization chooses to ignore all experimental evidence of this kind, then surely the onus is on the organization to prove that it is right while all other scientists are wrong." To me Mr. Platt you are either basking in self-aggrandizement or simply flaming the competition as foreseen as well as experienced in the past by James Halperin. Frankly I think it is a barrel- full of each. Olaf Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9447