X-Message-Number: 12654
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 19:17:05 -0400
From: Saul Kent <>
Subject: Kidney Cryopreservation And Investors

        In msg. #12640, Alex Berg wrote:        

        >  I think you should perform a demonstration 
>  of successful kidney cryopreservation NOW, even with 
>  the low success rate-of course, if you can. I believe your 
>  company has patent protection, and if your scientists will 
>  publish their methods, they will be pioneers. Even if some-
>  body else will come with improved technology shortly, your 
>  guys are still likely to get Nobel -:).

        >  If this can be demonstrated and then if you'll 
>  trade shares, I think 21CM has really a great potential, be-
>  cause of development artificial tissues and organs makes 
>  cryogenic storage a must for the foreseeable future. Some 
>  big biotech or pharmaceutical company may be interested 
>  in financing/buying 21CM then.

        I agree that an appropriate time to take 21CM public
might be after the publication of a method to cryopreserve kid-
neys successfully.  I also agree that, in the future, there will be
increasing numbers of organs (and other body parts) based
upon a variety of technologies for which cryopreservation will 
be needed.

        As far as demonstrating kidney cryopreservation
NOW, that's not yet possible.  21CM's kidney cryopreservation
program has been held up because we're waiting for a new
microsurgeon to join the company, which should occur before
the end of the year.  Once we get the program up and running,
we'll be aiming at the achievement of kidney cryopreservation
as soon as possible. I can assure you that, once it is achieved,
we will publish, promote and exploit it as rapidly as possible.

        Alex Berg wrote further:

        >  Saul, you're the man in charge and you hopefully 
>  know better  if > there is, I believe,enough potential invest-
>  ment capital in the cryonics community >today to achieve 
>  perfected brain cryopreservation in the foreseeable future, 
>  even if it >takes hundreds of millions of dollars to do so.

        >  I just want to point out that POTENTIAL is just 
>  that -a potential. Surely,  Bill G. has enough money to 
>  finance cryonics to the tune of hundreds of millions per 
>  year without even noticing, and surely he's a smart guy. 
>  So the POTENTIAL for involving people like him is there-
>  but it's been there for DECADES, and so what? As Mike 
>  said, we're still using 60's technology in Y2K, despite 
>  all potentials!

        There is a *very* big difference between trying to
unleash the potential for investment in research of signed-
up cryonics members and outsiders such as Bill Gates.
Bill Gates has never shown a shred of interest in cryonics,
while there are signed up members of cryonics organiza-
tions who are quite wealthy and who, in some cases, 
have already invested small (for them) sums of money 
in cryonics research. None of these people has any-
where near the money that Bill Gates has, but they *do* 
(or should) have the interest and motivation to put big
bucks into research that could save their own skins.

---Saul Kent

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