X-Message-Number: 19225
From: 
Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 08:58:06 EDT
Subject: umbilical cords

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Scott Badger asks why cryonics organizations are not in the business of 
preserving umbilical cords, from which stem cells might be obtained, since 
this appears already to be a going business.

I believe an Alcor-related company, Cells4Life, was started by Fred 
Chamberlain last year, intended to reversibly cryopreserve tissue samples. 
Fred has since left Alcor and I don't know what has become of Cells4Life--its 
web site seems to have closed down.

More generally, the question of side businesses has periodically been raised, 
and  my response is always the same. A side business--whether 
cryogenics-related or cryobiology-related or not, is still just another 
business, with the usual risks and potentials. If some person or organization 
wants to make or raise money through a business, either for personal benefit 
or for charitable purposes, fine--but side businesses are not appropriate for 
a cryonics organization. Even just plain cryopreservation of (say) bull 
semen, a long-established business, which would seem superfically to be a 
natural fit for a cryonics organization, is in reality just another 
competitive business--and besides that, a cryonics organization would be at a 
disadvantage in advertising.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
www.cryonics.org

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