X-Message-Number: 13837 Date: Sun, 04 Jun 2000 11:14:50 -0700 From: Mike Perry <> Subject: New Neuro Options Fred Chamberlain wrote (CryoNet #13823), regarding new cryopreservation possibilities, >Right now, a technical seminar is in progress at Alcor, sponsored financially >by BioTransport, Inc., in which the participants include the most >knowledgeable >and medically qualified people in Alcor, as well as representatives of both >21st Century Medicine, Inc. and Critical Care Research, Inc. One of the >tradeoffs being discussed concerns doing neuros at "whole body" prices so that >an almost perfect state of vitrification can be achieved. The higher level of >funding required would in some respects be brought about by very high rate >cooling to get the benefits of freeze blockers and advanced cryoprotectants >which will not work well unless those rates are achieved. Other cost-drivers >are the needs to store in the temperature range of -130 to -140 Celsius, with >high reliability. So, already the better chances of survival would go to >those >who could afford the higher cost neuro option. A thought that occurs is that if there is to be a neuro-at-whole-body-price option that involves longterm storage at -130 or so (presumably more expensive than LN2 storage) then there should also be a less expensive neuro option that would perfuse with the new and better protocol but store at LN2 temp. In this way you would have a near-vitrified brain that might be cracked a bit but otherwise would be undamaged. (Bob Ettinger's suggestion of the possibility of longterm storage at -130 without added cost has merit too, but needs further investigation.) For myself, and I imagine a sizable number of other Alcor members are in this predicament, I have more than enough funding for my current neuro option but less than needed for a whole-body freeze. It may be that I would have enough to cover the better protocol but still LN2 storage, or at any rate, it would be easier to upgrade to this option if it became available. I also agree with Thomas Donaldson that the actual cost of any new procedureshould be estimated directly. Mike Perry Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=13837