X-Message-Number: 6528 From: Brian Wowk <> Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 00:22:37 -0500 Subject: SCI.CRYONICS Means and Ends Steve Bridge writes on CryoNet: >1. Many people on CryoNet (and some of our members who write us) seem >confident that somebody out there *knows* what lines of research will work >and that money is the only barrier to the success of cryonics. What will work is not the issue. What *needs to be done* (to find out what will work) is the issue. The present scale and skill level of cryonics research is woefully inadequate. More than any particular research approach, it is the scale and skill problems that Prometheus will address. The scale of the research will exceed the combined operating budgets of all cryonics organizations, and the research will be performed by organ cryopreservation and neuroscience experts. >That assumption is purely wrong. Money is only the FIRST barrier to >overcome so we can find out what the other barriers are. Yes, there are >some interesting directions for research; yes, the vitrification research >of Greg Fahy is one of those directions. But there are many possible >pitfalls; and it is possible that the Prometheus managers will chose a >dead-end research path with a giant money sink-hole by its side. Unless funds are outright absconded with, I don't think this view is tenable. The Prometheus proposal is to increase cryonics research funding 100 times beyond current levels, putting a team of professional cryobiologists and neuroscientists to work full time on the problem of brain cryopreservation. To say that NOTHING will come from this (if that's what Steve is saying) is unthinkable. Even if "perfect" preservation is not achieved in ten years, there will be ENORMOUS advances in our understanding of central nervous system cryobiology, the effects of freezing on memory, and how to minimize cryoinjury to the brain. Since regular publication in peer reviewed journals is (in my understanding) a key objective of Prometheus, much of this information will be available to all cryonics organizations in the public domain. In short, Prometheus is sure to advance cryonics technology far beyond what it is today irrespective of when or how the final goal is achieved. *************************************************************************** Brian Wowk CryoCare Foundation 1-800-TOP-CARE President Human Cryopreservation Services http://www.cryocare.org/cryocare/ Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6528