X-Message-Number: 6424 Date: 01 Jul 96 12:31:44 EDT From: "Kent, Saul" <> Subject: Exploiting Brain Vitrification Regarding Thomas Donaldson's comments about the effects of brain vitrification on cryonics, I'd like to make the following points: 1) The effects of perfected brain cryopreservation on membership growth, public opinion, and the attitudes of the scientific and business communities towards cryonics will depend, in large part, I believe, on our ability to exploit this advance. As someone who will be involved in this effort, I have great confidence about our ability to do so. 2) Because cryonics involves the use of unperfected technology, we will have the opportunity to exploit progress in brain cryopreserva- tion *long* before we perfect it. A well-funded program to achieve brain cryopreservation (headed by top cryobiologists and neuroscientists) will provide us with a steady stream of progress reports in biomedical journals that we will be able to use, I believe, very effectively, to increase the credibility of cryonics, which would be translated into accelerated membership growth and greater investment in the research. By the time, we actually achieve perfected brain cryopreservation, we'll already be riding a wave of greater acceptance and growth that could be carried "over the top" by the final achievement. By that time, we should have a thriving industry and plenty of money for whole-body suspended animation research. 3) Any company that owns brain cryopreservation technology would at that point, in my opinion, have greater potential for profit than any company in history. 4) Points 1-3 are based on my opinions. Others will disagree. But even if I am largely wrong about our ability to exploit brain cryopreservation research, or the potential profitability of the company that owns the technology, it is still *critically* important for us to put together a well-funded brain cryopreservation research program in order to improve our chances of survival. ---Saul Kent Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6424