X-Message-Number: 21483
From: 
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 09:31:41 EST
Subject: Platt again

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Wearily, yet again, I suppose it might be slightly useful, in a few cases of 
newcomers, to correct Platt's errors and spins.

1. I said vitrification will prevent mechanical damage by ice crystals, but 
may have offsetting problems such as toxicity of chemicals used to achieve 
vitrification. Platt responded that Alcor's vitrification formula is less 
toxic than the concentration of glycerol needed for vitrification, which is 
not the issue in the context of the question, which was a general one about 
vitrification, to which I responded with a general answer that was 100% 
correct.

2. I had written:

>>as far as 
> >we know there have been no applications of [Alcor's] procedures to test 
animals
> >followed by full evaluation of results. They believe the indirect evidence
> >justifies use of the procedures anyway, and of course they may be right.

Platt responded: 

>Animal tests have proceeded for years. 

I repeat--there have been NO tests/evaluations of the current Alcor human 
neuro vitrification procedure applied to whole animal brains. If I am wrong, 
I would be glad to see the information. The only "tests" on brain tissue, of 
which I am aware, were done with tiny pieces and in restricted temperature 
ranges.

Again--anyone who wants more information on the Alcor procedure can go to the 
Alcor web site or/and make direct inquiries. 

3. Platt writes:

>implies that many Alcor patients may achieve only partial
>vitrification. This is also false. The majority achieve concentration
>needed to vitrify.

First, they do not know if all parts of the brain were uniformly perfused, 
and this is highly unlikely. Second, the "concentration needed to vitrify" 
and vitrification are two different things. Third, last time I looked, the 
Alcor web site said they have not yet solved the problem of storage at higher 
temperature and currently use liquid nitrogen despite the potential problem 
it poses for "vitrification" patients. Again--Alcor makes a good faith 
judgment as to the best bet with their current capabilities, and there's 
nothing wrong with that. But there is something wrong with the desperate 
effort by such as Platt to parlay this into a mantra of perfection.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
www.cryonics.org


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