X-Message-Number: 6780 From: (Brian Wowk) Newsgroups: sci.cryonics Subject: Re: How does "Prometheus" fit into mainstream research? Date: 19 Aug 96 03:42:10 GMT Message-ID: <> References: <> In <> (Joel Auslander) writes: >1) An earlier posting stated that there is currently active research >into preserving organs for transplants. If this is so, wouldn't money >better be spent in furthering this research? Banking organs for transplant is certainly a worthy cause. However banking brains for future revival (in regenerated bodies) is a potential way to treat *every* fatal disease there is. The life-saving scope of brain preservation is thus far broader than mere organ banking, and therefore a higher priority for people who are serious about radical life extension. The Prometheus Project is motivated by the observation that while technologies for preserving organs are becoming highly advanced, none of this technology is yet being transferred by anyone to the brain. >2) If there is even a slight chance that brain cryo-preservation and >revival is within 10 years and $10M, why aren't the normal funding >sources (government grants, Industrial R&D, venture capitalists) >jumping on it? Unfortunately only a very small minority of people value their life enough to consider a measure as radical as brain preservation (even if perfected). Governments or established businesses with reputations to protect wouldn't touch something this controversial with a ten foot pole. Remember, even once you demonstrate successful revival of a brain (proving that life is being preserved), it will still be about 100 years before a body can be provided for the brain. This is just too speculative for most people to accept. Not to say that this Project won't make a big splash; it will. But much of this splash will be controversy, not instant acceptance by the whole world. >While I can understand governments being slow to fund something >ethically touchy, I'd expect industry to be quick to jump on >developing a process that would certainly be worth billions! Selling >life to dying people is about as lucrative a business as you could >imagine. This assumes that everyone else in the world is as forward thinking as you and I. Unfortunately this is not the case. Some Project supporters (such as Thomas Donaldson) even go as far as to say that perfected brain preservation won't make any impact on public opinion at all!. While I don't think this view is tenable for a number of reasons, I wouldn't support the Project on expectation of a quick buck either. The best reason to support the Project is that you and I need it to save our lives, and if we don't do it, no one else is going to do it for us. *************************************************************************** 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=6780