X-Message-Number: 12282 Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 14:50:16 -0400 From: Saul Kent <> Subject: Reality Check 2 Reading George Smith's recent messages is a little like hearing about life in an alternative universe. Mr. Smith says: "My entire point is that it is wiser to assume that the juggernaut of modern medical industry with its billions of dollars and crystal-clear profit motive will succeed whether or not others, such as 21st Century, succeed or not." The facts are that the potential to make big bucks with improved or perfected methods of cryopreser- vation *is* crystal-clear, and the "juggernaut" that Mr. Smith refers to has done exactly nothing to date to take advantage of these opportunities. Not one of the giant medical corpor- ations is conducting cryopreservation research in spite of the "profit motive" to do so. Smith goes on to say: "If you don't think THEY can do it, with billions of dollars and the world's best researchers, what makes you think WE can do it better, with less money and fewer scientists." The reason I think "WE" can do it is because we *are* doing it. 21CM has already made significant advances in cryopreservation, such as the world's first synthetic ice blocker (take a look at 21CM.com) and improved vitrification solutions, and we are continuing to make progesss. Clearly, the giant medical corporations *could* accelerate progress in cryopreservation with their billions of dollars by investing some of it in cryopreservation research. A highly efficient way of doing so would be for them to seek to invest in 21CM or to purchase 21CM. I expect that such offers will, indeed, be forthcoming, perhaps in the near future, and look forward to them. The giant medical corporations are not only not conducting cryopreservation research, they are not even conducting ice control research in large markets they are already in. Both Novartis and Rhone Poulenc have "Crop Protection" divisions which gross more than a billion dollars a year. Neither of these divisions is conducting research to develop methods of protect crops against freezing damage, which is responsible for billions of dollars of economic loss every year. 21CM's emerging technologies, on the other hand, have the potential to solve this problem. Again, I look forward to the possi- bility of collaborating with these companies. ---Saul Kent, CEO 21st Century Medicine Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12282