X-Message-Number: 18998
From: 
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 21:55:28 EDT
Subject: Odds & Ends...

CryoNet:

I will be going to this exhibit on The Human Genome before long here in 
Raleigh, NC.  Might learn something, but also it is an opportunity to see how 
the science is being presented to the public.  Don't plan to stay long on the 
following URLs as they appear to a little too basic for the CryoNet crew.  
Here they are anyway (the second was a link from the first):

http://www.naturalsciences.org/exhibits/special_exhibits.html#gr

http://www.amnh.org/science/genomics/research/frozen.html

However, I found the following URL kind of interesting, while off-topic. I 
missed a particular PBS Frontline TV show I was interested in seeing, but 
found this article linked from their site which that show appears to have 
been based.  I thought it was good and did learn some things from it I would 
have been unlikely to learn otherwise.  Just scan it a bit first to see if 
you have any interest before getting committed to reading it.  It's long.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/31/magazine/31BEEF.html?ei=5039&en=b8cbf1a58c88

3e80&ex=1050552000&pagewanted=all&position=bottom
_________________

From yesterday's CryoNet:

Mike, meaningful thoughts.  

Use to be through out history that a certain percentage of those who 
committed suicide would certainly have taken the world with them if they had 
had the ability.  For the next few decades at least, more and more of this 
same percentage is going to more and more approach having that ability.  
Aside from that, this "dirty bomb" long-term contamination concept from cheap 
detonations in large cities is particularly troublesome for setting back 
progress and extend the former concern to many, many additional decades.  
Particularly precarious times we're in.

George, an extraneous thought crossed my mind while reading your post.  One 
of your sentences went as follows, for the purposes of reminding others of 
the post: "I suspect that when the time comes we will have a pretty good 
generic human DNA foundation to correct errors from."  While I know the 
following was not the purpose of the post, I am not so sure we (i.e., any 
individual planning cryopreservation) should fret too much about not getting 
around to preserving our own DNA now for our own future purposes of having a 
more error-free copy. (Yes, I am aware that you have already done so.) With 
many trillions of copies available from the cryopreserved patient, a 
relatively simple computer program could compare the DNA from one's various 
cells and determine exactly where any abnormalities existed in any given 
copy, and also be provided with the right corrections based on the simplest 
of statistics (via the sampling of one's other copies).  This would assure 
that you would be you.  Later alterations would then be *your* choice.  Just 
a thought.

Regards,

DC Johnson

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18998