An Example of the Need for Research and Development Investment in Cryonics

Cryonics is a field that requires commercial success of some form for further expansion, such as in the reversible vitrification of organs, not least because either that or wealthier patrons than presently exist will be needed as a source of significant funding to improve current methodologies of preservation. The recent report from Alcor noted here illustrates the well-understood need for this sort of technical improvement. Alcor presents comparatively unfiltered reports on cryopreservations, where patients agree to it, and the staff and patients should be commended for this. Such reports are important to the quality of an industry, and open organizations are certainly better than closed ones. It is arguably the case that the biggest hurdle today when it comes to obtaining an optimal cryopreservation is the illegality of assisted euthanasia, a state of affairs that forces the industry into the form of a standby and emergency response service. That makes it both expensive and challenging to achieve a high-quality cryopreservation immediately after clinical death, as a sizable fraction of deaths in late life are unexpected in their timing. When euthanasia becomes more broadly legal and accepted, however, it will then be the case that technical limitations such as access to blood vessels in stroke victims will become the biggest immediate hurdle. It is easy to envisage ways around that problem, and the more sophisticated apparatus, the better tools to get at the blood ve...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs