X-Message-Number: 12837 Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 17:07:32 -0700 From: Linda Chamberlain <> Subject: Fourth Alcor Conference on Life Extension Technologies Fourth Alcor Conference on Life Extension Technologies www.alcor.org June 17-18, 2000: Mark Your Calendars Today! Take advantage of the Early Bird Special and save 50% off the price for registering at the door by registering before December 1, 1999 (see details below). The world is changing rapidly. Only a few years ago, most people considered mammalian cloning to be no more than science fiction. Repeated successes in this area, however, have made it a reality today. More importantly, medical technologies like cloning and the use of embryonic stem cells to regenerate tissues, promise to make it possible to reverse all the major degenerative diseases within our own lifetimes. Even aging itself is under very heavy attack by today s biological and medical technologies. The Fourth Alcor Conference on Life Extension Technologies is a meeting of scientists, technologists and individuals who are working in fields leading toward the expansion of human health and longevity. Conference Sponsors: Primary Sponsor: Alcor Life Extension Foundation Co-Sponsor: Foresight Institute Academic Sponsors: American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine Medicina Interna Gerontogeriatria y Medicina Anti-Envejecimiento, A.C. Corporate Sponsors: Principal Sponsor: Future Electronics Event Sponsors: James Halperin Foundation, Voxtran, Inc. General Sponsor: BioTransport, Inc. Suporting Sponsor: NanoTechnology Magazine Basic Sponsor: Life Extension Vitamin Supplies Speakers and Abstracts Glenna Burmer, MD, PhD Title: Identifying Aging Genes by Using DNA Microarrays DNA Microarrays or "gene chips" are one of the most powerful methods in biotechnology for simultaneously analyzing the expression of thousands of human genes in human diseases. LifeSpan is building a database of gene expression in human aging and the diseases of aging using microarrays and methods of high throughput localization to find candidates that may be the drug targets for the treatment of aging diseases. Data will be presented on genes that are up-regulated or down-regulated in aging, those that are drug targets or potential diagnostic markers, and those for which a function is not yet known, but are clearly aging-associated. The high throughput nature of this type of technology is changing the way discoveries are being made in both the field of aging as well as medicine in general. Fred Chamberlain, BBE Title: Bioimpedance Bioimpedance, a biological electrical characteristic where tissues with intact cell membranes behave very differently from tissues that have undergone cell membrane breakdown, is sustained for extended periods after cessation of heartbeat and breathing. Automated means of comparatively evaluating cryostasis protocols, as well as means for monitoring and comparing specific cryotransport operations, will be reported in the context of early experimentation and (if circumstances have permitted) actual cryotransports. Eric K. Drexler, PhD Title: The Conservative Treatment of Transient Inviability or Your computer crashed -- shall I throw it out? Emerging nanotechnologies will lead to cellular-scale robotic surgical devices able to sense and repair tissues with molecular precision. Those of us who stay intact until this technology arrives could achieve and keep good health indefinitely. Traditional medicine discards patients if their vital processes are interrupted for more than a few minutes. In light of the prospects for future repair, this treatment - - physical destruction of potentially healthy human beings -- seems regrettable. Physicians wishing to save lives should instead recommend treatments that keep patients intact for restoration using the next generation of medical technologies. Gregory M. Fahy, PhD Title: Cryobiological Research at 21st Century Medicine 21st Century Medicine is probing a broad range of problems in cryobiology. A central aspect is our attempt to demonstrate successful cryopreservation of mammalian organs, particularly the kidney. Construction of perfusion equipment, new surgical approaches, our new surgical staff, and initial results of perfusion with novel, low-toxicity vitrification solutions will be described. James J. Hughes, PhD Title: Our Evolving Definitions of Death: Looking Ahead The definition of death varies cross-culturally. "Death" has also changed radically in the West in the last thirty years. The shift from circulation and respiration-based definitions of death to "whole brain death" has left us in an unstable compromise. Just as mechanical heart-lung aids forced us from body to brain, advances in remediation of brain injuries will force us to grapple with questions about the integrity and continuity of personhood. Cryonics will be a part of a group of therapeutic modalities that will force a new personal identity-based concept of rights. The question may shift from "Live or dead?" to "What can we do with/who controls various kinds of bodies, with various degrees of consent or prior expressed will on the part of the occupant?" I will discuss some political and legal scenarios. One possible outcome might be that the re-animated cryonaut would be a legally and phenomenologically different person than the person who was frozen. Ralph Merkle, PhD Title: Nanomedicine and Cryostasis Human beings are made from molecules, and how those molecules are arranged makes the difference between good health and bad, between youth and old age, and between life and death. Most medical problems involve damage at the molecular and cellular level. Today's medical tools are very limited in their ability to deal with such damage. In the future, with nanotechnology, we should be able to arrange and rearrange molecular structures in most of the ways permitted by physical law. The medical applications of such an ability will be remarkable. We should be able to heal and cure under conditions that today would be considered completely hopeless. We should even be able to reverse freezing injury, giving us the ability to restore to health people who have been frozen using today's methods. Richard Morales, MD Title: Setting Your Internal Clock Circadian rhythms are well known scientific phenomenon. Recently, we have learned how to reset our internal clocks with diet, exercise, sleep and hormonal manipulation. Dr. Morales will discuss some of the breakthroughs in this area and their application to anti-aging medicine. Tomas A. Prolla, PhD Title: Gene Expression Profile of the Aging Process The gene expression profile of the aging process was analyzed in skeletal muscle of mice. Use of high-density oligonucleotide arrays representing 6347 genes revealed that aging resulted in a differential gene expression pattern indicative of a marked stress response and lower expression of metabolic and biosynthetic genes. Most alterations were either completely or partially prevented by caloric restriction, the only intervention known to retard aging in mammals. Transcriptional patterns of calorie-restricted animals suggest that caloric restriction retards the aging process by causing a metabolic shift toward increased protein turnover and decreased macromolecular damage. Gene expression profiling of the aging process provides a new tool to test aging interventions. Robert Newport, MD (details pending) Gregory Stock, PhD Title: Who's afraid of freezer burn? Long before biological reconstruction of a frozen body (or brain) could be feasible, technology would have to advance sufficiently for uploading to occur. Moreover, the technological developments needed even for uploading are sufficiently powerful to dramatically transform the world in a way that would make biology a far less interesting substrate for life than silicon and its progeny. The incentives for a biological rather than a technological awakening from a cryonic state are unlikely ever to exist, so cryonists -- if they are someday revived -- are almost certainly bidding adieu to corporeal existence. Natasha Vita-More After dinner on Saturday Night, Natasha Vita-More will present an overview of her current book project, A Talent for Living , after which she will lead a panel discussion on Cracking the Myth of Mortality (panelists to be announced.) Michael West, PhD Title: Human Therapeutic Cloning Many technologies have been developed and refined in the past few years that set the stage for human therapeutic cloning as a potentially limitless source of cells for tissue engineering and transplantation medicine. These technologies include the identification and isolation of pluripotent stem cells that are capable of generating all of the cell types in the body, genetic and cell engineering techniques enabling the designee of custom tissues and organs, and advanced in somatic cell nuclear transfer to clone ungulates confluence of these technologies will lead to means for developing tissue therapies that will overcome the present difficulties related to immune compatibility and graft rejection, and thus the requirements for use of immunosuppressive drugs and/or mmunomodulatory protocols. Brian Wowk, PhD Title: Molecular Control of Ice Formation Antifreeze proteins and ice nucleating proteins found in nature are able to respectively prevent or catalyze the formation of ice while present in very small quantities. It has recently been demonstrated that synthetic molecules are able to perform similar functions. The availability of inexpensive synthetic molecules for blocking ice formation opens new frontiers for control of ice in industry and agriculture, and for eliminating ice in cryopreservation applications. Asilomar Conference Center Monterey Peninsula, Northern California Staying on-site at Asilomar is a memorable experience. Once you arrive, there is no driving and no hurry. Three excellent cafeteria-style meals are included each day. Maid service, beach and swimming pool. Everything is close and convenient. Prices dictated by accommodations selected. Non- conference guest reservations accepted. Attendees who want to bring their families find it to be a wonderful vacation for non-attendees. Attendees and their families can come early or stay late to enjoy the general Monterey Peninsula and take advantage of Asilomar's economical food and lodging package. But reservations must be made well in advance. Don't be disappointed by trying to make reservations at the last minute only to learn that they no longer have accommodations that will fit your needs - or worse, that they are sold out completely. Save money, as well, by registering for the Conference in advance. Take advantage of the Super Early Bird Special! Register on-line today. Lodging and meals package at Asilomar is available at www.alcor.org, or an information package can be requested by calling Alcor Life Extension Foundation at 480-905-1906. Register Early and Save! 30% Discount off any fee below for Alcor Life Members 10% Discount off any fee below for Regular Alcor Members Super Early Bird Special $200/person if registered before December 1, 1999 Early Bird Special $250/person if registered before March 1, 2000 General Registration $300/person if registered before June 1, 2000 At The Door (after June 10, 2000) $400/person Register Early and Save! Call for registration package: Alcor Life Extension Foundation, FAX: 480-922-9027 VOICE: 480-905-1906 www.alcor.org (Register On-line) Linda Chamberlain () Executive Director / Membership Administrator For information about a thriving, life affirming cryonics organization: Alcor Life Extension Foundation Non-profit cryonic suspension services since 1972. 7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260-6916 Membership Information: (877) GO-ALCOR (462-5267) Phone (480) 905-1906 FAX (480) 922-9027 for general requests Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12837