First Cryopreservation Following Use of Assisted Death Legislation in California

Simple human dignity and self-ownership demands the right to end one's own life on one's own terms, and to be able to help others achieve this goal where they are not capable of doing so themselves. Yet these acts remain forbidden to most people in most parts of the world. Painless, effective euthanasia requires medical assistance, and providing that service remains largely illegal. This state of affairs is slowly starting to change in the US, however, and so late last year the first cryopreservation following voluntary euthanasia took place. Cryopreservation is the only presently available end of life option that offers a chance at life again in the future. It is an unknown, high risk chance, but it is the only option on the table for those who will age to death prior to the advent of rejuvenation therapies. Given a sufficiently high quality preservation of the brain, using vitrification techniques, then the fine structure that stores the data of the mind can be preserved indefinitely at low temperatures. At some future date, technologies of restoration based on advanced molecular nanotechnology will become plausible, then possible, then used. The preserved individuals have all the time in the world to wait for that to come to pass. There are challenges, however. The important challenges in cryopreservation are twofold, and ultimately stem from the presently small size and non-profit status of cryonics organizations, which ensures that progress towards technica...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs