X-Message-Number: 6131
Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 10:46:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: Synthesizing Amber

In Message #6129 MAC TONNIES <> wrote:
> Is anyone aware of a method to synthesize "industrial" quantities of amber
> resin?  If this form of preservation is possible, it might usher in an era of
> "basement amberstasis," with would-be cryonauts building molds in the privacy
> of their own homes and making arrangements to have themselves immersed after
> death.  Storage and maintenance costs, it seems, would be reduced to
> practically nothing.
> 
  Quite right. I am surprised that this has not been thoroughly 
investigated already. However before jumping on the amber bandwagon I 
would like to mention that this would be more damaging than freezing. A 
more appropriate model for preservation by desiccation might be 
anhydrobiosis. For a brief discussion of this consult: "Death Defying 
Dehydration" 107-110 February 13,1988 Science News. In summary instead of 
using toxic amber to stabilize tissue in the dried state, animals such as 
brine shrimp, nematodes and tardigrades as well as plant seeds use 
various low molecular weight carbohydrates as stabilizers. Usually either 
trehalose or sucrose are used. Recently lotus seeds up to 1288 years of age 
have been found to be viable. (Am J Botany 1367-1380 82(11) 1995)
  The trouble with using sugars (or amber) as a stabilizer would be the 
very poor penetration through the blood/brain barrier. However some good 
results have been obtained with membrane permeable carbohydrates such as 
sorbitol. For example the survival of sorbitolized escherichia coli after 
freezing is 52%, while freeze-dried escherichia coli actually show a 
higher survival of 66%. (Cryobiology 475-487 10 1973) However the price 
one pays for using membrane permeable agents seems to be the requirement of 
a certain degree of refridgeration to maintain viability. 


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