X-Message-Number: 31136 Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 06:36:50 -0800 (PST) From: Julian Conrad <> Subject: Jackson Zinn enters cryostasis. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081105/A_NEWS0803/811050318/-1/A_NEWS05 Attorney's final wish: to chill out By Michael Fitzgerald Record Columnist November 05, 2008 6:00 AM Jackson Zinn, a Stockton attorney, died on Monday. In accordance with his wishes, he is to be frozen in a giant Thermos outside Detroit. Zinn, 65, was a cryonicist. He believed his corpse could be preserved until the day medical science might revive it. "He's a real true believer," said Zinn's colleague, Nolan Stringfield. Stringfield, to whom Zinn gave power of attorney, took Zinn off life support when doctors at Dameron Hospital concluded Zinn had no chance of recovery. Following Zinn's wishes, Wallace-Martin Funeral Home special-ordered a casket with zinc insulation and leak-proof silicon seals. "In his case, we rushed it," funeral director Matt Bryant said. Time was of the essence, because better preservation translates into likelier revival. Or so cryonicists believe. Four volunteers from the Bay Area cryonic community packed Zinn's body bag with ice at the funeral home - a procedure no one at Wallace-Martin had seen. "I can tell you that in our line of work, it's not up to us to judge anyone," Bryant said. "We respect and honor the wishes of the family." The volunteers injected Zinn with a drug to prevent blood clots, said Ben Best, president and CEO of Michigan's Cryonics Institute. They also performed chest compressions. Compressions circulate blood to better cool it. "I think they may have put some bleach in, too," Best said. Bleach fights mold. Zinn had contracted a bacterial infection. Placed in a shipping container, Zinn's iced casket was flown cargo out of San Francisco International and transported to the Cryonics Institute in suburban Detroit. Zinn's original wishes called for "neuroseparation" - for his head to be surgically removed and his body discarded. Future science that could revive him could grow him a new body, he reasoned. Zinn originally planned neuroseparation at Alcor Life Extension Society of Scottsdale, Ariz. Baseball legend Ted Williams' head is in cryostasis at Alcor. But Zinn instead opted for Cryonics Institute. The institute, which operates under different state regulations, does not offer neuroseparation. Cryo-technicians will replace Zinn's blood with "vitrification solution," an antifreeze, to prevent cellular ice damage. They will gradually chill his corpse to 321 degrees below zero. Zinn will be transferred to a cylindrical steel tank "like big Thermos bottles" and frozen in liquid nitrogen. About 90 people are thus maintained at the institute. "I think people preserved in good condition today, we'll be able to bring them back in 50 to 100 years," Best opined. "That's my guess." But, "there's no guarantees." Zinn once said that if revived, he will go on the lecture circuit. Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at (209) 546-8270 or Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=31136