2nd Quarter 2008 • Volume 29:2 Strategic Board Meeting page 7

COMPANY announcement page 10

Membership Report page 13

TECH NEWS page 19

ISSN 1054-4305

$9.95

INSIDE CRYONICS

3 Book Review: Liberation

2ND QUARTER 2008 • VOLUME 29:2 Biology: The Scientific and Moral Case for the Biotech Revolution Disputing the view that longevity through technology is unnatural, the author

2nd Quarter 2008 • Volume 29:2 explores advancements in stem cell research, the possibilities of genetic Strategic enhancement, biopolitical Board Meeting page 7 arguments, and even cryonics.

4 Book Review: A Beginner’s COMPANY Guide to Immortality: announcementpageC 10OVER STORY: PAGE 7 Extraordinary People, Alien Membership In early ReportStrategic Board Meeting: Brains, and Quantum June,page 13 Alcor’s board of directors visited Resurrection TECH NEWSthe Alcor facility for a 2-day strategic page 19 While straddling the fence meeting with the Alcor management regarding the possibilities team. Read about the topics discussed, as well as the generous of immortality, this author

05 054-43 covers a smorgasbord of ISSN 1 donation that was accepted and how the organization stands to benefit. topics with both favorable

$9.95 and unfavorable positions.

14 Member Profile: Stephane & Magali Beauregard

5 A Thursday Evening Debate 16 Member Profile: With Arizona cryonicists in the crowd, Richard Leis, Jr. Drs. Aubrey de Grey and S. Jay Olshansky debate the possibilities, and impossibilities, 17 Methuselah Foundation of life extension. Seminar Champions California’s Regenerative 6 Executive Director’s Report Medicine Initiatives: Leaders in stem cell Since our last update, Alcor has deployed six medication kits to technology, science and regions around the world. Read about where Alcor’s technical policy converged at a development stands today. recent 3-day conference.

10 COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT 19 Tech News Alcor announces its search for a Chief Executive Officer and Flexible silicon chips may Transport Coordinator. lead to brain implants. Could a laboratory-grown heart be a precursor to 13 Membership Report replacement organs? From Membership growth has been slow in nanoworms to automated recent years, but 2008 shows signs of mind-reading in this issue improvement. of Tech News.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 1 At the May 3, 2008, board meeting, Alcor welcomed Robert A. Freitas Jr., J.D. and Martine Rothblatt, Ph.D. to the Scientific Advisory Board. Editor Jennifer Chapman Robert A. Freitas Martine Rothblatt, Jr., J.D., published J.D., M.B.A., Ph.D. Art Director the first ever launched the Jill Grasse detailed technical Geostar, PanAmSat, design study of a WorldSpace, and Contributing Writers medical nanorobot Sirius satellite Chana de Wolf in a peer-reviewed communications Tanya Jones mainstream bio- companies prior Jerad Kaliher medical journal to leading the Regina Pancake and is the author International Bar R. Michael Perry, Ph.D. of Nanomedicine, an innovative book-length Association’s project to develop a draft Drew Reynolds technical discussion of the medical applica- Human Genome Treaty for the United Brian Wowk, Ph.D. tions of nanotechnology and medical Nations and founding a biotechnology nanorobotics. Volume I was published in company, United Therapeutics. She is an Contributing Photographers 1999 while Freitas was a Research Fellow at inventor on four patents and created the Regina Pancake the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing frequency bands used for mobile satellite R. Michael Perry, Ph.D. (IMM) in Palo Alto, California. Volume IIA communications and satellite radio. Dr. ______was published in 2003 while he served as a Rothblatt has authored several books: Research Scientist at Zyvex Corp., a nan- Radiodetermination Satellite Services and Copyright 2008 otechnology company. Freitas is now com- Standards, 1987; A partheid of Sex, 1995; by Alcor Life Extension Foundation pleting Nanomedicine Volumes IIB and III Unzipped Genes, 1997; Your Life or Mine, 2003; All rights reserved. and is also consulting on diamond Two Stars for Peace, 2004. She also scripted Reproduction, in whole or part, without mechanosynthesis, molecular assembler and produced the pioneering cybermuseum, permission is prohibited. design, and nanofactory implementation as the World Against Racism Museum, a Senior Research Fellow at IMM. www.endracism.org. Cr yonics Magazine is published quarterly.

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2 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org LIBERATION BIOLOGY: THE SCIENTIFIC AND MORAL CASE FOR THE BIOTECH REVOLUTION

Author: Ronald Bailey (New York: Prometheus Books, 2005) book review by r. michael perry, ph.d.

he ages-old dream of greatly lengthening battle over life and death. On one side stand Thuman lifespan while maintaining a state the partisans of morality, who counsel of good health has seemed a fantasy to most humans to quietly accept our morbid fate and until recent times. Now scientific and medical go gently into that good night. On the other progress suggests that such an advance could is the party of life, who rage against the dying occur within the lifetimes of some living of the light and yearn to extend the enjoy- today. Some are hopeful and optimistic about ment of healthy life to as many as possible for such prospects, including cryonicists, but as long as possible.” Going from there, the many are not. Worried voices have been raised Table of Contents suggests what will follow: that radical life extension would be going “too “Biopolitics, fight of the century”; “Forever far,” that we must respect “natural bound- young: the biology and politics of immor- aries” and must not tamper with something so tality”; “Are stem cells babies? The ethics of fundamental even if the results would seem, making perfect transplants.”; “Hooray for on the face of it, to be highly beneficial. designer babies!”; and so on. Other human enhancements, such as genetic No, says the author, stem cells are defi- modifications that would make children nitely not babies, nor are tiny embryos with healthier and smarter than nature has already no brain; both can rightfully serve as subjects provided, must similarly be nixed. Moreover, of scientific experiments. More generally, the argue the naysayers, certain investigations book offers a solid case that the drive to must be stopped, notably embryonic stem cell immortality through technology is a most nat- much of the book in fact is brave talk in research which “destroys human life” since ural part of our nature, a process that began need of more backing, and additionally is human embryos at whatever stage of devel- when our distant ancestors first made their becoming dated as time passes and perspec- opment are “fully human” even if they have crude tools to help overcome whatever of tives are altered by new discoveries. The talk no brain or consciousness. life’s limitations they could start addressing. could come across, particularly to the veteran Such thinking may be an understandable Today we can address much more but the immortalist, as “preaching to the choir” or reaction to what are increasingly real possi- basic process continues, now at an ever-accel- otherwise lacking inspirational value, though bilities that could radically change human life erating pace. Increasingly it extends into all I found it engaging. and even the meaning of life. To those of us facets of life, including our own biology. It is It is encouraging that books are being in the immortalist camp, however, it seems not denied that caution is called for; more written to counter the dreary views of those tragically misguided to so resist the prospect than ever we must guard against the possi- frightened by, yet accepting of death. of alleviating the mortal burden we have bility of abuse as our powers and under- However, we must also face the fact that so labored under for so long in this world. It is standing develop. But (let us never forget!) we far each of us is slated to die pretty much on refreshing, then, to see a book such as must also continue the advance. schedule, and we have to ask what can be Liberation Biology offer a firm rebuttal to fear- As yet, despite the advances we’ve made done. Does Liberation Biology address this based, “deathist” thinking while reporting on the main problems are unsolved, as the issue? Yes it does, albeit briefly. The case for exciting progress in the medical and biolog- author readily admits. Aging is still largely cryonics is outlined and recent progress in ical fields. untreatable, designer babies are yet to make vitrification is noted. This is saying a lot, for Engaging the reader from the start, the their appearance, and it is not at all clear just a writer who does not appear to be a cryoni- front flap opens with: “The defining political how the important advances will be cist himself—though we who are could ask conflict of the twenty-first century will be the achieved, despite what is now known. So for more. I

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 3 A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO IMMORTALITY: EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE, ALIEN BRAINS, AND QUANTUM RESURRECTION

Author: Clifford A. Pickover (New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2007) book review by r. michael perry, ph.d.

he subject of “immortality” means dif- At least it can be said that, in the smor- not be philosophically palatable to everybody, Tferent things to different people, and gasbord of topics relating in some way to but it does have some interest and some advo- Clifford Pickover’s book considers many of “immortality,” garden-variety immortalists cates. It is, by the way, an old argument that them, starting with the more conservative. who are just interested in physically defeating can be traced all the way back to the ancient This may frustrate some readers—space is death are not ignored. There is a brief but Greek atomists and also is echoed somewhat given early on to people, such as the writer basically favorable discussion of cryonics— in Nietzsche’s idea of the Eternal Return.) Truman Capote, who achieve “immortality” though no mention of its important rela- Another topic, “quantum immortality”, through their works (though not by a tives, the attempted conquest of aging and promises eternal existence another way via strategy for personal survival). But heck, I radical life extension. physics, again for those who are philosophi- thought, that is interesting, too, what with As for true physical immortality, the cally receptive. The idea is that reality is the weird problems and hang-ups of many author is actually something of a fence-sitter always splitting into parallel versions, in which of history’s geniuses, and I found myself if not naysayer, at one point invoking the sometimes, however improbably, we never die drawn in. Capote, for example, could not so well-known “dilution argument” which at all. (But we might not exactly prosper much as recite the alphabet though he had a would apply if death is physically abolished. either—as, for example, if we grow older and tape-recorder-like memory and didn’t use The growth of our gray matter or other older but just “get lucky” to the extent that notes or other memory aids for the inter- mental substrate must continue indefinitely our bodies and brains never completely stop views in his groundbreaking, nonfiction to accommodate new memories and experi- working. Personally I find the quantum resur- novel In Cold Blood. ences. If we lived long enough our earlier rection idea with its clear renewal option a personalities, even if faithfully preserved more cheerful prospect.) informationally, must be totally swamped If there is any one passage that I would and form so small a fraction of the whole say best captures the tone of the whole, it that we could no longer claim to be at all the might be near the beginning where the “same person” we originally were. (There are author discusses current cultural shifts. The counterarguments to this that the author dominant role of techno-geeks is giving way does not consider.) increasingly, it appears, to the more holisti- Noted on the other side of the ledger, cally creative: “The hottest individuals will be however, is “quantum resurrection”, implying those who are good at recognizing patterns that, if we suppose the dilution problem can in culture and belief, those who try to under- be worked around after all, immortality is not stand the forest and not just the trees.” only possible but inevitable. Reality as a These in turn will serve as social catalysts, whole, not necessarily confined to the visible helping others “become creative and dream universe, should offer essentially all possible daring dreams.” things going on at the quantum level which Of course such a book will not please underlies all that happens. So copies of us everybody—those it especially will not please must be generated over and over, and each can probably guess who you are. Otherwise, one potentially can continue “our” conscious- though, read and enjoy—you’ll find it enter- ness and survival in one of numerous pos- taining if you approach it as the optimistic, sible ways, at least some of which should be mind-candy Christmas stocking-stuffer it is pleasing and rewarding. (Admittedly, this will intended to be. I

4 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org A THURSDAY EVENING DEBATE By Regina Pancake

Photos by Regina Pancake

n early March, I learned of a free debate green pills and didn’t stop until the audience Dr. de Grey proceeded to give the rea- Ithat had been advertised in many of the groaned under the weight of the preposterous soning behind his ideas. “Aging is a process local Phoenix papers with the provocative tag claims. The jig was up. of decay,” he said, “a by-product of being line of: “Do you want to live forever?” It fea- alive in the first place.” He feels it happens tured Dr. Aubrey de Grey, who would be ver- despite our genetic heritage, not because of it. bally sparring with Dr. S. Jay Olshansky about The process of metabolism leads to the life the possibilities, and impossibilities, of life long accumulation of damage, initially harm- extension. I, like many Alcor members, am less, but eventually becoming deadly as it familiar with Dr. de Grey’s anti-aging work, so grows sufficiently abundant within the body. a group of us eagerly took our seats to bear He explained some key issues sure to witness to this enticing 90-minute debate held peak the interest of anyone with an inquisi- at the Arizona Science Center. tive mind. He began with his proposed Dr. Olshansky was introduced as an “Engineering Approach” to eliminating American professor of epidemiology at the aging (removing damage as it occurs), which University of Illinois at Chicago School of is not as complex as the “Gerontological Public Health. A biodemographer, Approach” (slowing the damage caused by biogerontologist and researcher on the metabolism). “We don’t need to understand upper limits of human aging and longevity, the metabolism nearly as much if we use the he works to educate the public about prod- Dr. Olshansky dramatically made his engineering approach,” he proclaimed. point that the potential for an indefinite ucts that claim to reverse or halt the aging “Robust Human Rejuvenation” involves lifespan is as preposterous as the claims process. Dr. de Grey is a British biomedical of a “miracle pill.” reversing the damage that has accumulated gerontologist and the author of the in people already in middle age. To be suc- Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and cessful in the long run, however, the devel- The End of Aging. He is currently working to So went my first introduction to Dr. opment of more and more sophisticated develop a tissue repair strategy to rejuvenate Olshansky and his little demonstration, rejuvenation therapies must outpace the the human body and thereby allow an indef- which he would later refer to as our “inocu- accumulation of future cellular damage, a inite lifespan, a medical goal he calls “engi- lation.” His demonstration was meant to concept called “Longevity Escape Velocity.” neered negligible senescence.” We could prime us for arguments against his oppo- As we listened to the exchange, it became see, right from the onset, the potential for nent’s claim that an indefinite lifespan is pos- apparent that these two men, as different as clashing perspectives would be high. sible. He asserted that we had been exposed they were in their viewpoints about scientific Dr. Olshansky had the honor of to a complete fabrication insufficiently sup- potential, were actually very similar in their speaking first. In his opening statement, the ported by data. quest for longevity. And they appeared to be good doctor explained that we had probably In response, Dr. de Grey calmly took good friends who shared a passion for “health already bought into the idea of life extension the microphone and commended Dr. extension,” rather than strictly life extension. and grown accustomed to science pushing the Olshansky on setting the modest goal of In the end, this was but an introduction envelope further and further within our own adding seven more years of healthy life to to the concepts being hotly debated in our lifetimes. He then dramatically pulled out a the average human lifespan. De Grey time, a glimpse into the profound issues at Federal Express envelope. Opening it with couldn’t resist pointing out that Dr. play. As I left the auditorium that night, I was flare, he placed a medicine bottle filled with Olshansky, or Jay as he called him, had not hopeful that the event had opened some of bright green pills on the podium. He pro- provided any data whatsoever to support his the attendees’ minds to ideas not previously ceeded to read a press release disclosing the own case, yet opposed de Grey’s ideas on conceived of, and I felt lucky that mine was wondrous capabilities possessed by the little that very basis. one of them. I

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 5 Executive Director’s Report

By Tanya Jones

e have had a busy year at Alcor so far. In regions. The medication kits represent an Waddition to performing five cryo- improvement in ease of use and clarity for preservations, one including a two-week our team members, and we have processes in standby, we have continued to work hard on place to ensure that the medications will be the technical projects we hope will greatly maintained with respect to expiration dates. improve the quality of cryopreservations for all These first six kits have been deployed to members. We intend for these projects to northern and southern California, Nevada, address shortcomings in stabilization readiness, Florida, New England, and the United perfusion capability, and training protocols. Kingdom. Improving the stabilization capability is a Deploying additional kits will require the critical task, and our teams need the appro- establishment of new regions and a search for priate equipment and supplies to carry out a regional coordinators. As we get farther along complex protocol involving surface cooling, in this process, we will be contacting members medication administration, airway manage- in several high-density areas, like the Pacific ment, and blood washout. What happens in Northwest, Texas, and the Midwest to search customized note-taking capability for each of the minutes following cardiac arrest will often for volunteers who wish to become involved. the steps in the vitrification process; and determine how well a patient is vitrified, or We also intend to recruit in other countries, multi-layered alarm systems. even, if a patient can be vitrified at all. like Canada, where having a stabilization kit As we begin testing the new whole-body Because of the complexity associated pre-positioned will save time trying to get one system, we are also prepared to start testing with replacing entire stabilization kits in all through customs in an emergency. the portable perfusion system we use in the regions, we chose to break this project By the time we complete our recruiting patient stabilizations. The controller problems into slightly smaller parts. Our ice bath design process, we should also have an improved mentioned in the article “2007 Annual (for the application of surface cooling) is training regimen for team members, training Review” (Cryonics 29:1) have been resolved, stable and complete, and we are in the process that goes beyond lectures and mannequins to and we are eager to see if everything works as of building the first six for deployment to our actual hands-on skills practice. Furthermore, we intended. Though the design modifications existing regions. Simultaneously, we are intend to extend the training program from the we made to this device were relatively minor, building new medication kits for those same stabilization portion of the procedure (which is the impact on the time it will take a team mostly what we teach now) to include vitrifica- member to set up for the blood washout por- tion protocols, even cooling. tion of a stabilization will be significantly The vitrification system we are building reduced as will many of the practical training will be particularly well-suited for training requirements. Of course, learning to perfuse a team members in whole-body perfusion, as patient is not a small task, but anything we can we can program it with any number of sce- do to simplify or speed up the procedure is narios designed to teach team members what likely to help. to do when something goes wrong. With its Continuing our technical development to extensive automation and more logical layout, improve the procedures and getting more we expect to train several more personnel to people trained in cryonics procedures are cur- assist with the perfusions. rently two of our highest priorities. With our We’re excited to report that our new expanding membership, there will eventually whole-body system is nearing the alpha- come a time where our network is stretched testing phase, after more than two years of too thin to provide quality care to all mem- development. We are in the process of final- bers. By anticipating these needs now, we can izing the user interface and note-taking capa- prevent some obvious – and ultimately avoid- bilities; and we hope to begin the rigorous able – failure modes. testing needed to validate the basic system For more on issues facing the organiza- sometime in September. Few features remain tion and recent changes that have taken place, to be added, like bubble-sensing capability I encourage you to read Board Director Brian and the patient enclosure temperature con- Wowk’s article titled “Strategic Board trol. We also need to finish the documentation Meeting” starting on page 7. We are all Alcor’s redesigned medication kits include necessary to operating and trouble-shooting hopeful that the recent management restruc- individually-packaged and vacuum-sealed the system. We have added three-point sensor turing will allow greater focus on the many medications, each accompanied by the calibration for the refractometers (which technical projects we have queued up to supplies and written instructions I necessary for preparation. measure the patient’s cryoprotectant uptake); improve member cryopreservations.

6 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org Strategic Board Meeting By Brian Wowk, Ph.D.

LEF/MILLER/THORP READINESS GRANT DETAILS

During the Saturday portion of the Strategic Meeting, the Alcor board approved the resolutions below to meet the terms of the LEF/Miller/Thorp grant proposal.

In response to a proposal by three major benefactors delivered to the Alcor board of directors by Saul Kent on June 7, 2008, we adopted these resolutions solely with respect to the use of $150,000 per donor per year for three years, totaling $1,350,000:

1. A comprehensive search for a new Executive Director* will be undertaken.

2. A comprehensive search for a full-time Standby Coordinator* will be initiated. In addition to managing standbys, this person would be responsible for working with others at Alcor to improve readiness for cases and would write detailed case th th ver the weekend of June 7 and 8 , reports for every Alcor cryopreservation patient in a timely manner. O2008, the Alcor board and manage- ment team held a 2-day strategic meeting at 3. Donations are to be accepted for improving readiness capability at Alcor for the Alcor facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. cryopreservation cases. In order to encourage donors to support this develop- Planning for the meeting began in January as ment, the following procedure will be followed: it became apparent that there were many issues that needed more discussion than was First, written proposals, including budgets, will be submitted to the Alcor R&D possible during regular monthly board meet- committee for approval. ings. More than 30 items were set on the meeting agenda. The formal portion of the If the proposal involves developing new equipment, the next steps will be meeting consisted of 9 hours of discussion building and testing a prototype of this new equipment. Only after this proto- on Saturday, and 3 hours on Sunday. type has been approved by the R&D committee will money be provided to con- Former CEO, Dr. Jerry Lemler, served as struct or purchase additional units. The R&D committee is charged with evalu- Chair for the weekend. The regular monthly ating all available options before making decisions regarding readiness equip- board meeting for June was rolled into the ment. Saturday session. 4. Upon payment by the donors of the needed funds, Alcor will give a 10% raise LEF/Miller/Thorp Readiness to all staff members. Grant 5. All parts of the plan shall be implemented in a timely fashion. Four days before the Strategic Meeting, board member Saul Kent communicated to 6. Alcor will seek candidates for both positions who are mutually agreeable to the the board and management details con- Alcor board of directors and the donors. cerning a large grant to improve Alcor oper- ations that he had just secured in the form 7. Alcor will develop a comprehensive fundraising and revenue-generation plan. of a proposal from three donors. The grant Saul Kent will undertake to develop a first draft. was to consist of donations of $150,000 per year for three years from each of the Life * The Standby Coordinator and Executive Director search committees established Extension Foundation (LEF), the Miller pursuant to the grant have renamed the positions to be advertised as Transport family, and Edward and Vivian Thorp, pro- Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 7 viding a total of $1,350,000. This $450,000 Finances Performance of the PCT as an invest- per year was to be used to fund improve- Organization finances were discussed. ment is important because Alcor charges the ments in cryopreservation case readiness, a As detailed in the January 18, 2008, Alcor PCT approximately $150,000 per year to pay new Standby Coordinator staff position, an News blog report, “Update on Recent for patient care. This amount is composed Executive Director search and compensa- Progress,” Alcor currently spends approxi- of direct patient care costs, such as liquid tion, and staff salary support. mately $1.4 million per year. Approximately nitrogen and capital expenses, plus a portion The grant proposal was a major topic of $200,000 of this is paid for by regular dona- of Alcor general expenses that are consid- discussion on Saturday. Board members tions, and $300,000 by bequests and other ered attributable to patient care. The Alcor Steve Van Sickle and Carlos Mondragon extraordinary income events. The unpre- board agreed during discussions at the were concerned that potential withdrawal of dictable nature of extraordinary income Strategic Meeting that the charge to the PCT the grant if mutual agreement was not means that some years are deficit years. This should be considerably less than 5% of the achieved between donors and the board has necessitated drawing from and then PCT value per annum to ensure long-term during an Executive Director search gave replenishing Alcor’s half-million-dollar growth and security of the Trust. the donors too much influence over Alcor. endowment fund on several occasions, Patient care costs, both overhead costs They were particularly concerned that Saul making the endowment fund a de-facto and marginal costs of new patients, are key. Kent, a principal of LEF, had a conflict-of- reserve fund. There has not been a detailed analysis of interest because of LEF’s financial support The board agreed that it would be ben- patient care costs at Alcor in 15 years. The of Suspended Animation, Inc., a company eficial to build a financial floor under the desirability of such a study was expressed. that supplies cryonics services to other cry- current level of operations so that they onics organizations. Other directors felt could be sustained even without extraordi- Membership Growth that the mutual agreeability provision was nary income. Establishing an endowment Membership growth was discussed. not unreasonable, and that Alcor would ben- fund to supply regular income equal to the Annual growth was approximately 3% in efit even in the unlikely event that agree- operating deficit would be a natural way to 2006 and 2007. Various changes imple- ment could not be reached. They also do this. mented in the Membership Department believed that turning down such a generous Concern was expressed that Alcor lacks have increased monthly membership growth donation from three wealthy benefactors credibility in fundraising for endowments to a 7% annual rate in 2008, with 865 mem- would set a bad precedent. After long dis- because past endowments have been spent or bers at the end of May. The target of 1000 cussion, the grant proposal was accepted by handled as reserve funds. To overcome this, members before or during 2010 may be the board, with 6 in favor, and 2 against. it was proposed that an endowment be estab- within reach. The two directors that opposed the pro- lished that is legally structured to preserve posal, Steve Van Sickle and Carlos capital. It was agreed that this would be inves- Member Democracy Mondragon, resigned from the board in tigated, likely in conjunction with a Early this year long-time Alcor activist protest later in the meeting. fundraising plan being assembled by board and benefactor David Pizer issued a public member Saul Kent to meet the conditions of plea to change Alcor’s board from being Officer Changes the LEF/Miller/Thorp Readiness Grant. self-perpetuating to member-elected. A Also on Saturday, Tanya Jones was lengthy explanation of the present system moved from the Chief Operating Officer Patient Care Trust Finances written by Ralph Merkle entitled, “Alcor’s post to Executive Director, Jennifer Chapman Patient care at Alcor is funded by a legally Self Perpetuating Board,” was placed on the was moved from Chief Administrative segregated Patient Care Trust (PCT) that cur- Alcor website. The board took the opportu- Officer to Chief Operating Officer, and Steve rently has assets valued at $3.2 million. PCT nity of the Strategic Meeting to further dis- Van Sickle was moved from Executive assets consist of $1.7 million in liquid invest- cuss the issue. While appreciating the sta- Director to Chief Technical Officer. These ment accounts, plus majority ownership of bility that a self-perpetuating board can changes were the product of discussions ear- the company (Cryonics Properties, LLC) that offer, some board members noted that a lier in the year, and reflect preferences of the owns the building Alcor occupies, plus own- self-perpetuating board can become insular management team with concurrence of the ership of the mortgage on the building. The and unresponsive as internal assets grow board. The motion to appoint Tanya Jones as value of the PCT grows with Alcor’s patient and an organization becomes less dependent the new Executive Director was made by population as money is set aside in the PCT upon member support. Possible ways of Steve Van Sickle. for each new patient to fund long-term care. increasing member feedback without Concern has recently been expressed by the changing the Bylaws were discussed, such as Patient Care Trust Board Alcor board and some Alcor members that more allowing members to elect an individual that Changes clarity is needed in PCT accounting. The com- the board would voluntarily place on the Carlos Mondragon’s resignation from the plexity of PCT assets and internal cash flows board. Many details would have to be Alcor board was accompanied by his resigna- makes it difficult to determine the investment worked out to implement such a plan. It tion as board representative and Chair of the performance of the illiquid portion of the PCT was agreed that there were more urgent Alcor Patient Care Trust (PCT) board. in a transparent way. It was decided that an projects that needed attention, both at the Michael Riskin was chosen by the Alcor board effort would be made in cooperation with the meeting and after the meeting. The issue to take Carlos’ place as board representative PCT board to improve reporting of PCT will likely continue to be discussed in the on the PCT board. finances to the Alcor board and membership. future.

8 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org Organization Priorities than two years with the intention of providing for directors to visit the facility and attend There has been some tension between the a vehicle for members to set aside funds for meetings in person more often. board and management about attention paid to personal use after revival. Progress has been research and equipment development vs. clin- stalled for approximately a year due to diffi- Acknowledgements ical readiness to perform cryonics cases and culty finding a new attorney to work on the The board wishes to thank the Life case reporting. For the past couple of years trust after the firm that Alcor had been Extension Foundation, the Miller family, management has been implementing an ambi- working with lost interest. At the Strategic and Edward and Vivian Thorp for their gen- tious plan to redesign transport kits and equip- Meeting it was agreed that an attorney with erous grant, and Bina and Martine Rothblatt ment to better facilitate replication and wider experience preparing individual revival trusts and their matching donors for funding much kit distribution. This has taken longer than for some of Alcor’s wealthiest members technical progress at Alcor over the past two expected. In addition, a highly advanced whole would be contacted. Since the Strategic years. Special thanks must also be given to body cryoprotective perfusion system is being Meeting, there have been fruitful conversa- the Miller family for their regular generous built, and animal research infrastructure had tions with this attorney. In particular, there support of Alcor in addition to the new been put in place, funded by the Bina and was a recommendation that Alcor develop a readiness grant. The board is grateful to Martine Rothblatt Whole Body Vitrification template trust to facilitate establishing indi- Carlos Mondragon for his many years of Research Matching Grant of 2006. vidual revival trusts for members rather than service on the board and invaluable work Management emphasized to the board that a master trust that could become a large target during times of crisis, including serving as effort has primarily focused on research and for litigation. The arguments for doing so are Alcor’s chief executive from 1988 to 1993. development because members have funded it strong, and this recommendation is being The board is also grateful to Steve Van and expect results. Member interest in funding seriously considered. Sickle and Tanya Jones for heading Alcor for improvements to the ability to respond to the past three years, and looks forward to actual cryonics cases (clinical readiness) has Other Topics continuing to work with both of them in been comparatively low. With the advent of the Many other topics were discussed over their new leadership roles. The board large LEF/Miller/Thorp Readiness Grant, all the weekend. They included facility security, thanks Jennifer Chapman and the Alcor agreed that the time had come to put a stronger personnel issues, regional readiness, metrics staff for their hard work and dedication, and focus on clinical readiness and service delivery. for case performance, Alcor’s aging informa- the many other donors, advisors, volunteers, tion technology infrastructure, and the timing and members that keep Alcor going. Wealth Preservation Trust of the next Alcor conference (likely late 2009 Thanks also to Jerry Lemler for chairing the Alcor’s Wealth Preservation Trust has or 2010). The meeting concluded with a gen- Strategic Meeting. I been in the development process for more eral understanding that it would be beneficial Photos by R. Michael Perry, Ph.D. Take a look at the ALCOR BLOG www.alcornews.org/weblog

Your source for news about: Cryonics technology Cryopreservation cases Television programs about cryonics Speaking events and meetings Employment opportunities

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 9 company Announcement

Cryonics

The cryopreservation of patients for possible future revival is The practice of cryonics is controversial because today’s known as cryonics. It is based upon the fact that cells, tissues, methods of cryopreservation cannot be reversed by today’s organs, and entire organisms maintained at very low (cryo- technology and because today’s laws require that patients be genic) temperatures will not suffer any significant further cryopreserved after they are legally “dead.” As a result, Alcor damage for centuries; and the premises that advances in cry- has to deal with and counter skepticism at times. The CEO obiology make it possible today to preserve the brains of should have the knowledge and presence to deal effectively patients well enough to enable future scientists to restore indi- with negative attitudes towards Alcor and the practice of cry- vidual identity; and that future advances in fields such as onics. gerontology, genetic engineering, regenerative medicine, and nanotechnology may someday make it possible to restore cry- For more information about Alcor and cryonics please see our opreserved patients to life, health, and youthful vigor. website at http://www.alcor.org.

10 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org POSITION: Alcor Chief Executive Officer served and are seeking to do so under considerable time pres- sure. The CEO will need to interact diplomatically with and educate patients, relatives, medical personnel, hospital adminis- Effective Date July 20, 2008 trators, and government officials. The CEO will need to know the legal basis for cryonics and be able to explain both the Salary $125,000 per year plus the benefits described below promise and limitations of cryonics in a credible manner. The CEO will need to have a commanding presence during emer- The Alcor Life Extension Foundation (Alcor) invites applications gencies and when coping with the everyday pressures of run- for the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Alcor is a non- ning the organization; profit, tax-exempt membership organization in Scottsdale, Arizona, that is the world leader in cryonics, cryonics research, and cryonics 4. The ability to work well with the Alcor Board of Directors, technology. The Alcor CEO will be in charge of all operations which will be overseeing the CEO’s performance and the including the management of Alcor’s staff, which currently consists progress of the organization as a whole, and to work well with of 10 people in Scottsdale and consultants in other areas. This the other members of the Alcor management team; includes management of administrative activities, research and development projects, cryopreservation cases, and long-term 5. Strong communication skills to help facilitate a positive public patient care operations. The position will likely require periodic perception of Alcor and cryonics and to help increase Alcor’s travel. rate of membership growth. This includes the ability and will- ingness to speak effectively in public, be interviewed by the media, offer tours of the Alcor facility to the public, and write Qualifications articles for Alcor’s publications; It is preferred that candidates for the CEO position have the fol- lowing qualifications: 6. Fiscal management skills, including the ability to oversee Alcor’s budget, oversee annual accounting reviews, implement 1. Experience in successfully managing small or medium-sized controls, communicate financial affairs to the board and mem- companies that offer scientific and/or medical products and bership, foresee and deal with cash flow challenges, and imple- services. CEO candidates should possess an effective manage- ment fundraising ideas to obtain both unrestricted and ment approach that is consistent with Alcor’s mission state- restricted donations and bequests to improve Alcor’s financial ment and includes strategic planning, the development of a status on an ongoing basis. structured organizational system, setting and enforcing project deadlines, and effective tactics for conflict resolution. Those who only have experience in managing companies that do not Salary and Benefits offer technical products and services can also apply if they have a strong interest in and commitment to cryonics; The salary for the CEO position will be $125,000 per year plus health insurance, paid sick leave, paid vacation time, and other ben- 2. A good working knowledge of cryonics, cryonics practice, and efits as specified in Alcor’s policies or otherwise negotiated. Alcor the scientific evidence in support of cryonics. This includes will pay all the costs of relocation for any successful candidate who some knowledge of the equipment, medications, and supplies doesn’t already reside in the Scottsdale area. used in the practice of cryonics, such as the portable ice bath (PIB), the air transportable perfusion system (ATP), anti- ischemia medications, portable cardiac compression devices, Applying for the CEO Position vitrification circuits, and the cryogenic dewars used to care for cryopreserved patients. Extensive knowledge of cryonics and In order to apply for the CEO position, please send a resume and cryonics practice is not a mandatory qualification for the posi- a cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for the tion, however it is critically important that CEO candidates be CEO position to Jennifer Chapman at the following email address: strongly committed to the long-term care of Alcor patients who have been cryopreserved and the ongoing improvement [email protected] of the methods by which new Alcor patients are cryopre- served; or, if by mail, to:

3. The ability to work well and manage others well under ordinary Jennifer Chapman, Chief Operating Officer circumstances and under pressure. Alcor performs cryo- Alcor Life Extension Foundation preservations about 2-8 times a year. These can involve rapid 7895 East Acoma Drive, Suite 110 decisions with health, emotional, financial, organizational, and Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 legal ramifications, especially when the patient and family have not made prior arrangements for the patient to be cryopre-

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 11 POSITION: Transport Coordinator 5. Establish contact with local funeral homes to assist in transport preparations. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation currently has an immediate 6. Interact with patients, their family and local medical personnel opening for a Transport Coordinator at our Scottsdale, Arizona, to ensure the timely application of Alcor’s protocol after pro- facility. The Transport Coordinator is responsible for the stabilization nouncement of legal death. and transport phases of cryonics. Cryonics is the experimental prac- tice of using ultra-cold temperatures to preserve human life in a state Postmortem Responsibilities that may be recoverable by future medicine. For four decades Alcor has developed and implemented innovative techniques in the field of 1. Ensure the timely application of Alcor’s stabilization protocol, human cryopreservation. These techniques involve a combination of which includes surface cooling, medication administration, car- experimental interventions and conventional medical skills. diopulmonary support, airway management, and blood At Alcor, we believe that intelligence, memories, and personality washout. are determined primarily by the structure and chemistry of the 2. The Transport Coordinator will then supervise the transport of human brain. Our aim is to preserve the brain and the unique iden- the patient to our facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, and possibly tity within it so well that advanced future technology can restore the continue participation in the case in the operating room. individual to health. The stabilization and transport phases of cry- onics ideally consist of rapid cooling, administration of medications, 3. The Transport Coordinator will be responsible for the timely and cardiopulmonary support to protect the brain following cardiac preparation of detailed technical reports on the care provided to arrest prior to transport to Alcor. For more information about cry- each patient, once each transport is concluded. onics and Alcor please see our website at http://www.alcor.org. This position requires out of town travel approximately 6 to 8 Job Description weeks per year. The Transport Coordinator is to be on call on a 24- The Transport Coordinator will be responsible for the post- hour basis for emergencies that may occur up to ten times per year. mortem stabilization and transport of Alcor patients to Alcor’s cryo- Otherwise, normal business working hours are required. preservation facility in Scottsdale Arizona. The Transport Coordinator The person we are looking for will be self-motivating, and cre- will work with the Readiness Coordinator on the maintenance of ative, but stable and reliable in challenging situations. Our Transport Alcor’s existing patient stabilization and transport processes, ensuring Coordinator must have good people skills to interact successfully that equipment is properly maintained for emergency deployment, with our member’s families and hospital personnel. Most of all, the field personnel are adequately trained, and that the highest quality of individual must share our vision that cryonics patients require the care is delivered to our patients. The Transport Coordinator will ensure same conscientious dedication to patient welfare as conventional that appropriate data is collected during stabilization and transport, medicine, even though cryonics procedures are still experimental. and write detailed timely case reports. Once suitably experienced in our This is an exciting opportunity to participate at the edges of cur- procedures, the Transport Coordinator will be responsible for rent knowledge and feasibility, in the hope that cryopreservation of improving our existing training regimen, updating documentation, human beings will enable future resuscitation by radically advanced extending regular training sessions for regional groups within the medicine. You will be part of one of the most difficult and ambitious United States and overseas, and supervising the certification process scientific endeavors ever pursued. for our technicians. The Transport Coordinator will work with per- sonnel at Alcor and with external physicians, scientists and consultants Qualifications to ensure that procedures reflect the best available medical and scien- tific knowledge. The Transport Coordinator will also perform the fol- • Paramedic, CCP, RN, NP, PA, or MD. lowing specific tasks: • Equivalent experience in a health field will be considered. • A minimum of five (5) years experience is preferred. Premortem Responsibilities • Experience in an emergency room or critical care setting is 1. Establish contact with Alcor member’s physician or medical highly desirable. facility upon terminal diagnosis. • Experience in cryonics is desirable but not essential. 2. Track and assess member’s condition without participating in • Experience in tissue recovery is a plus. treatment. Tracking may continue on an intermittent basis, in • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, person or by phone. are required. 3. Decide when the member’s condition warrants deployment of a stabilization team. Alcor offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits 4. Organize and maintain a Standby, often in a remote location, in package. Employees must reside in the greater Phoenix area, or be which cryonics transport technicians wait to perform post- willing to relocate to Phoenix. We will pay relocation expenses. mortem stabilization procedures. Qualified applicants should email their resume, salary requirements, and a cover letter describing their interest and attitude toward cry- onics to Tanya Jones ([email protected]).

12 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org Membership Report As of July 31, 2008

Applicants Members Following an influx of 22 applications last Membership in the Alcor Foundation has grown 3% thus far this year December, the year started with 54 people in the resulting in a membership roster of 863 people worldwide. In the past seven process of applying for membership with the months, there have Alcor Foundation. During the course of the year, been 48 member- the queue has grown by 24% to 67 applicants. ship approvals, 1 Seventy-five applications (and counting) have membership rein- been submitted, an average of over 10 per month, statement, 19 can- and 48 applicants proceeded to become members. cellations and 5 Fourteen applications have been withdrawn by cryopreservations. the applicant or cancelled by Alcor. People give Growth was lower all kinds of reasons for deciding to apply, from than desired in 2006 being inspired by talking with Alcor members to a and 2007, but the growing belief in technology and an unwavering number of finaliza- love of life. tions and net gain in 2008 has nearly sur- passed those years with five months left to go.

The number of cancellations is on par with histor- ical norms. Alcor has nearly com- pleted its internal review of each member’s funding and has estab- lished more strin- gent procedures for collection of Prospects membership dues, both of which Several new efforts to increase membership, tend to result in largely revolving around improving personal some membership contact with prospective applicants and losses. The reasons for cancellation are consistent with past years. extending them promotional offers, have signifi- cantly increased the typical number of incoming applicants per month. More applications for membership have been received through July 2008 than the total number of applications received in all of 2007. Subscription to Cr yonics Magazine has more than doubled this year. This is largely due to Alcor proactively offering complimentary 1-year trial subscriptions to those interested in learning more about Alcor. A free subscription can be requested by simply filling out the Feedback Form on the Alcor website. Alcor members are encouraged to do their part to increase membership growth. Referral by existing members is the primary source of membership growth for Alcor, so members can simply contact Alcor if they are interested in being put in contact with prospective clients who request further discourse after speaking with Alcor representatives.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 13 Member Profile:

Stephane and Magali Beauregard

By Chana de Wolf

“The future belongs to those who believe In 2005, the Beauregards enjoyed the Christmas holiday in the beauty of their dreams!” in scenic Auberge du Lac Taureau (Quebec)

f you spend any time perusing the Alcor extraordinary love and care of his paternal enough, Stephane first learned of cryonics IUnited web forums, you will undoubtedly grandparents and an early education in the in a public restroom in France, where in run into posts by Magali and Stephane value of money gained as a newspaper street 1993 he discovered a magazine article about Beauregard, who always end their correspon- peddler from the age of thirteen. With temper- Alcor. “I was very captivated but I hadn’t dence with the above quote. Such a bold and atures ranging from 30ºC (86ºF) in summer to any pen and paper on me to note the hopeful statement instantaneously paints a -35ºC (-31ºF) in winter, Stephane rose at 5:00 address and phone number,” he recalls. “So picture of two eager, forward-looking people in the morning, seven days a week, before I wanted to remember [the name] of Alcor – the kind of people whose dreams of the going to school. Later on, after a few different in Scottsdale.” Many years later, he and future are uplifting, if idealistic...the type of jobs in the adult working world, Stephane Magali were at home watching Vanilla Sky people who are always willing to share the decided to create his own import/export busi- and Forever Young – two movies that talk a beauty of their dreams with others and who ness of collectible music items. little about cryonics, which reminded continually strive to bring their hazy, beautiful It was on a trip to France for a conven- Stephane of Alcor. He and Magali then dreams into sharper focus. tion that he met Magali. “I had to buy a return found the Alcor website, which they found And that picture would be accurate. ticket for Montreal and she worked in the so interesting that they decided to contact Magali, a native of Amboise, France, credits travel agency,” says Stephane. After communi- Jennifer Chapman to learn more about her supportive parents and maternal grandpar- cating by email and phone, they decided to Alcor membership. ents, as well as a traditional education, with take a trip to Reunion and Mauritius Islands in In 2005, Magali and Stephane traveled to instilling the values that she now finds useful in the Indian Ocean to get to know each other Scottsdale to tour the Alcor facility and her life. In high school, Magali began having better. Though Stephane was 32 years old and horrible headaches. An MRI scan revealed a unsure about the idea of “true love,” as hypophyseal tumor that was so large the doc- Magali walked in front of him one day he tors recommended immediate surgical found himself wondering if perhaps she removal. Eventually, after two operations, two might be the woman for him. Throughout the radiotherapy treatments, and a long course of remainder of the trip they developed such medication, the tumor was stabilized. Rather respect for one another that Stephane knew than dwell on the negative, though, Magali the answer. Several weeks later, he decided to prefers to recall that, in 2001, she met “the prove his love and sincerity by moving to person who would become my best friend and France to be with Magali. Consequently, they the man of my life: Stephane.” were engaged in 2002 at the top of the Eiffel Stephane grew up in LaSalle, Quebec, the Tower and married in 2003 at Beauregard French province of Canada. At age eleven, his Castle – a series of events that Stephane parents divorced and were thereafter not regards as very much “like a fairy tale.” always present in his life. Instead, he attributes So how did this fairy tale couple This happy couple wed five years ago at Beauregard Castle in France (August 2003) the shaping of his mind and personality to the become involved in cryonics? Strangely

14 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org finalize their membership applications. They lack of popularity and, as a result, a want of reasoned that cryonics is their “only chance to members. Aside from the obvious challenge of come back in the future” and that’s a chance reviving and rejuvenating its patients, they feel they are willing to take. Like most cryonicists, that the next most important goal for Alcor is Stephane and Magali express a deep love of to grow a more substantial membership base. living and feel that life as we know it today is To that end, Stephane and Magali do their best too short to realize all their dreams and ambi- to increase positive awareness of cryonics. tions. Furthermore, they both feel that the Today they work together in publicity, having hope of seeing each other again and contin- created a phone directory in the area where uing their journey together will lessen the pain they live. Stephane reports that in this line of of losing one’s beloved life partner. This is a business, where they constantly interact with psychological benefit that may be encouraging many different people, they are asked about an increasing number of couples and families their Alcor bracelets every day. “So we explain to join Alcor together. the truth and we take a few minutes to talk about cryonics with them,” he says. Because they feel that it is interesting and important for cryonicists to know and learn about one another, Stephane and Magali also Stephane steals a picture of Magali while go out of their way to meet and stay in touch enjoying a nature walk in Quebec, where the pair was celebrating their with other Alcor members. They were very rd happy to meet “extraordinary people of var- 3 wedding anniversary (2006). ious countries” at the last two Alcor confer- Their vivacity is expressed through a ences (2006 and 2007), but were disappointed number of other interests, as well. Magali likes to learn that some Alcor members find it too to swim, take nature walks, make videos and difficult to keep in contact afterward. photos, and draw. Stephane enjoys composing Stephane and Magali traveled back to music, playing drums, and singing, as well as a Scottsdale in March of 2008, where they were variety of physical activities including swim- delighted to attend the monthly Phoenix ming, walking, diving and skating. Having Cryonics Meetup. For Stephane, such meet- already visited more than thirty countries ings are a “great opportunity to talk about cry- together, Magali and Stephane also maintain onics and meet other Alcor members.” an active travel itinerary and visited Japan for Being Francophones themselves, Magali their 5th anniversary in August 2008, where we and Stephane understand the necessity of know they continued to engage others in pos- Magali and Stephane pose with Alcor publishing information in a variety of lan- membership coordinator Diane Cremeens itive dialog about cryonics! I guages. Thanks to their recent efforts in in the Alcor patient care bay. securing translations of Alcor documents, Contact Stephane and Magali Beauregard: Stephane reports that “now French speakers [email protected] Of course, Magali and Stephane have big around the world will be able to find informa- dreams for Alcor, too. They envision an Alcor tion about cryonics directly on the Alcor web- with offices in all the big cities of the world, site.” Taking it a step further, they also antici- with a team of researchers presenting ground- pate acting as volunteers to communicate with breaking scientific findings at medical and French-speaking prospective members and to technology conferences, and a better-devel- write articles about cryonics in order to inform oped marketing department that will attract others and find new members. more publicity and sponsorship. More imme- Stephane and Magali’s enthusiasm for diately, they would like to see Alcor automate cryonics is so apparent that even their friends the membership sign-up process and payment and parents are infected by it. In fact, functions online and to investigate newly- Stephane’s mother and some friends are developed global satellite messenger systems beginning the application process because of as a means of alerting Alcor to member their sincere efforts. Stephane affirms that by health emergencies. They are also interested talking openly about cryonics they set a good in the feasibility of implementing a software example and are generally surprised by the system that would allow cryonicists to upload positive reaction they receive from others. He as much information about themselves as also notes that oftentimes the people they talk possible in order to assist in stimulating mem- to “did not know that this alternative exists.” ories and personalities upon resuscitation. It is this zeal for introducing others to their Beautiful dreams aside, Magali and options, and the possibilities of the future, Stephane and Magali celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary in Kyoto, Japan Stephane realize that cryonics suffers from a that drives Magali and Stephane. in August 2008.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 15 Member Profile: Richard Leis, Jr.

By Jerad Kaliher

Richard describes the HiRISE project to a live audience. He is speaking with the ichard Leis, Jr. has his eyes fixed on space. His pursuit of science public as high resolution imaging systems Rhas led him on a journey that is out of this world, Mars to be exact. are inserted into orbit. At 35 years old he works as an Operations Specialist at the HiRISE Operations Center located at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The project plans to take approximately 10,000 images of the surface of Mars with hopes to obtain high resolution images twenty active members with an additional I couldn’t imagine undertaking much of it of less than one percent of the planet’s sur- chapter in Phoenix, as well as over 100 partic- within an average lifespan.” This type of wide face. The job demands detailed methodology ipants on Facebook. Through the club he met eyed wonder is what brought him to cryonics and scrutiny of complex scientific data. He several employees of Alcor and toured the in the first place. applied the same mindset to cryonics from facility for the first time in December 2007. Although his family has not expressed the start. He was impressed with what he was shown. interest in membership, some of them have As an adult Richard has been an active After extensive investigation, meeting been fascinated by his enthusiasm for the sub- member of the transhumanist movement. He other Alcor members and touring the facility, ject. His passion for science, planetary sys- is the Treasurer of the Immortality Institute, Richard was ready to become an Alcor tems and cryonics radiate from him. “After whose mission is “to conquer the blight of member. Expense was the first concern that reading an article about the latest discovery I involuntary death.” In 2006 he founded h+, came to mind. Yet he found how reasonable have the urge to tell everyone. Family and or “humans plus,” a transhumanist club with and viable the costs could be with proper friends were often overwhelmed with the roots in Tucson. Originally, he wanted to meet insurance coverage. He signed up on the spot. technical aspects of what I’d find.” So he people who identified themselves as immor- Increasing Alcor membership is always found a more conventional way to share talists. They began meeting for lunch once a on his mind. The best way, according to breakthroughs – he started a blog (www.fron- week. That trend eventually developed into a Richard, is to bring people who have an tierchannel.com). Writing began as an outlet journal club. The club has grown to include interest in cryonics together frequently and for factual news. His aspirations have grown face-to-face. It’s what he was drawn to, the and he hopes to try his hand at fiction. human element. To attract new members to One thing is sure; he needs all the time his h+ club, the group has tried multiple that science can muster. Mapping Mars, experiments to capture interest. Attempts finding life elsewhere in the universe and include posters with taglines like, “Do YOU writing about it may sound ambitious. Good want to DIE, neither do we.” They have thing Richard is well on his way. To him it was elicited a wide range of responses, from a simple choice, oblivion or a chance to be glaring eyes to outright anger and finally, brought back. “There is such wonder to curiosity. It’s been one of his main challenges explore and experience, I’d just really hate to when facing loved ones with the option of miss it.” I cryonics. “People often dismiss you.” That doesn’t deter him from spreading the word. Contact Richard Leis, Jr.: [email protected] Richard enjoys visiting his family Richard’s wish is to extend what it is to Visit Richard’s Blog: www.frontierchannel.com near the Oregon coast. be human. “With a whole universe to explore,

16 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org The symposium was held at the Royce Hall auditorium at UCLA Methuselah Foundation Seminar Champions California’s Regenerative Medicine Initiatives

By Drew Reynolds alifornia has been an established center was Gregory Stock, UCLA’s director of med- sequencing of the human genome, a con- Cof regenerative medicine research since ical research, who has on various occasions certed effort is currently being embarked before the California Stem Cell Initiative debated prominent opponents of life exten- upon by scientists in interdisciplinary fields. passed in November of 2004. As an example sion research. These speakers were joined by Dr. West took the opportunity to unveil the of the public stepping forward to ensure sci- biochemistry and molecular biology professor embryome (www.embryome.com) an open entific funding in the face of political opposi- Bruce Ames, pharmaceutical company source online database of information on tion, it marked a unique occasion in the chairman William Haseltine, and policy embryogenesis. He believes, based on his unfolding history of the science of life exten- experts in the field of stem cell technology vantage point as a leading advisor in the field sion. In recognition of California’s vocal Daniel Perry and Bernard Siegel. of stem cell research, that scientists are well public support of stem cell technology, the Presiding over the event, Aubrey de Grey on the way toward taking control of the Methuselah Foundation held a three-day con- introduced the scientific segment of the sym- human life cycle by collecting and appropri- ference at the end of June at the University of posium. He began by arguing that because ately applying this information, through California Los Angeles. age-related illness is the root cause of most which it may be possible to capture the central The life extension organization has pre- human debility, aging itself should be the mechanisms of immortality. viously led three scientific conferences on the foremost target of regenerative medicine. Bruce Ames, whose concern is for for- subject of engineering radical life extension, Diverging from the standard approach in warding the field of preventative medicine, which took place at Queens College, medicine today, which seeks to compress the spoke on the subject of two areas of research Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The period of morbidity in human lifespan he has been conducting, both of which intend UCLA conference informally began with a without a concrete plan for accomplishing to investigate methods of delaying the aging free symposium open to the public, entitled such a goal, the approach that the speaker process. The first area deals with the problem “Aging: The Cure, The Disease, The outlined seeks to postpone age-related of mitochondrial decay. Conducting tests on Implications.” The event aimed at putting the pathology altogether. This outcome would be rats in his laboratory at the University of postponement of aging more firmly on the engineered by reversing cellular and molecular Berkeley, Dr. Ames has provided evidence political and social map by including the par- damage caused by the natural processes of that as dietary supplements the organic com- ticipation of leaders in stem cell technology aging. Stem cell technology is seen by the pounds acetyl carnitine (ALC) and lipoic acid science and policy. The conference was Methuselah Foundation to be a vital compo- (LA) prevent mitochondrial decay. organized by biomedical gerontologist nent in the process of making inroads into Administering elevated levels of these com- Aubrey de Grey, the chief science officer of repairing cell loss and atrophy, the side prod- pounds to aging rats restores lost mitochon- the Methuselah Foundation. Dr. de Grey also ucts of metabolism that are caused by aging. drial function. Because age-related illnesses edits the periodical Rejuvenation Research,the Michael West began his presentation by such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s can be only international, peer-reviewed journal of addressing critics of regenerative medicine, traced back to mitochondrial decay, evidence its kind. arguing that the actual progress in stem cell suggesting that this degenerative process can He was joined by Michael West, chief technology should be measured against the be slowed through the use of nutritional sup- executive officer of the stem cell research and immense complexity of cell types arising out plementation is an encouraging discovery in development company BioTime. Advocates of embryonic stem cells. In order to address support of affordable preventative medicine. of cryonics, both scientists previously spoke the difficulties of deciphering the wealth of The other area of research Dr. Ames at the 7th Alcor Conference in Scottsdale, information gleaned from studying cell differ- spoke on related to the importance of Arizona. Also participating at the symposium entiation, a problem he likened to the micronutrients to healthy diet. About forty

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 17 attorney Bernard Siegel seeks extended. Implicit in the ability to answer the custody of cloned baby.” question of how long health be preserved, if Soon after he was on Connie it were ever to be answered with some Chung Live debating Dr. finality, would be the determination that Boisselier on the ethics of through certain means healthy life can be using present-day technology preserved indefinitely. William Haseltine to clone a human child. mirrored this assertion with his claim that Preceding the Clonaid the nature of life, its ability to reproduce investigation, the Bush itself over time, to renew itself from genera- Jonathan El-Bizri and Aubrey de Grey prepare slides Administration limited tion to generation, is a testament to the pos- for the night's presentations. funding for embryonic stem sibility of one-day attaching an individual life cells, restricting research to the to that fundamental immortality of DNA. essential micronutrients are required for the twenty-two stem cell lines that had previously During his presentation, Gregory Stock function of the body, including roughly fif- been created. The National Institute of argued for a publicly funded initiative toward teen minerals, fifteen vitamins, two fatty acids Health has been called the greatest engine of the goal of eliminating the aging process, an and two amino acids. While scurvy, beriberi scientific advancement in history, but due to effort he described as easily justifying a large- and rickets, three diseases related to vitamin only $16 million of its $24 billion budget scale effort comparable to the Manhattan deficiencies, have largely been eliminated, Dr. being allotted to stem cell research, the insti- Project in scope. He related his belief that Ames believes that even today shortages in tute has been sidelined in the field of regen- were the current generation to forgo such an micronutrients are responsible for the early erative medicine. As a survivor of cancer investigation into ending age-related suffering onset of age-related illnesses. Because there himself, Mr. Siegel noted that the Clonaid and infirmity, this hesitation would be inter- is no pathology associated with failing to meet incident was a troublesome indication of the preted by posterity as blindness to a noble the recommended dietary allowances of apprehensive public perception toward stem cause. It was Dr. Stock’s determination that essential micronutrients, they are too often cell research, a core technology for anti- whether to embrace the challenges of ignored. Simply put, being low in one of these aging. It was in recognition of this situation emerging technologies or to defy them, or micronutrients ages you faster, while over- that he founded the nonprofit Genetics merely to pretend they never existed, is a doing it can be harmful as well. “Mae West Policy Institute in an effort to defend stem choice we all must face. He ended by noting said, ‘Too much of a good thing was won- cell research and inform the public on its what an extraordinary historical moment we derful,’” Dr Ames stated in his talk. “But I potential benefits. live in, where research into telecommunica- think she was thinking of sex, not micronutri- Daniel Perry, Executive Director of the tions, biomedical technology and artificial ents.” In concluding his presentation, Dr. Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, intelligence are all taking shape. I Ames stated that dedicating himself to D.C., noted that for all of the potential good addressing the problem of micronutrient that could come from Dr. de Grey’s field of Videos of the symposium Aging: The Disease, shortage and thwarting its deleterious effects biogerontology, it has been examined and The Cure, The Implications can be viewed online: is currently at the center of his focus in pre- analyzed less than almost any other field of www.mfoundation.org/ADCI/video ventative medicine. medicine by policymakers and the media. By Bernard Siegel spoke on the topic of the contrast, there are signs of pubic perception of stem cell research. In his tremendous optimism within talk, he related his astonishment in the year the scientific community 2002 with the success of the Raellian UFO regarding the potential of cult in managing to testify in congress, longevity research. Citing the appearing before the National Academy of commemorative 125th year- Sciences and thereby impacting public per- anniversary edition of Science, ception about stem cell research by claiming the academic journal of the to have cloned a human being. Upon learning American Association for the of Dr. Boisselier’s claim that Clonaid had Advancement of Science, Mr. cloned a baby, and knowing based on the Perry noted that when polled precedent of Dolly the sheep that this was an on what crucial scientific unsafe practice, the speaker submitted a peti- questions would likely be tion seeking a temporary guardian for the answered in the next 25 years, infant. The following night he and his wife the editors of the journal were watching CNN and, much to their sur- chose as number six on their From left to right: Daniel Perry, Bernard Siegel, Gregory Stock, prise, saw a news flash appear on the ticker at list the discovery of just how Aubrey de Grey, Michael West, Bruce Ames the bottom of the screen reporting, “Florida much human lifespan can be

18 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org Tech News R. Michael Perry, Ph.D.

Silicon Chips Stretch into Shape Scientists Grow Rat Gene Therapy Treats Parkinson’s Normally fragile and brittle silicon chips have Heart in the Lab An experimental form of gene therapy for been made to bend and fold, paving the way for Researchers seeking new treatments for heart Parkinson’s disease has been shown to pro- a new generation of flexible electronic devices. disease managed to grow a rat heart in the lab duce promising results. US scientists treated The stretchy circuits could be used to build and start it beating. “While it still sounds like 12 patients with a virus genetically modified advanced brain implants, health monitors or science fiction, we’ve hopefully opened a new to carry a human gene which dampens down smart clothing. The complex devices consist of door in the notion that we can build these tis- the nerve cells over-excited by Parkinson’s. concertina-like folds of ultra-thin silicon sues and one day provide options for patients Now brain scans have revealed significant bonded to sheets of rubber. Writing in the with end-stage disease,” said Dr. Doris Taylor, improvements—which were still present a journal Science, the US researchers say the chip’s director of the Center for Cardiovascular year later. The Feinstein Institute for Medical performance is similar to conventional elec- Repair at the University of Minnesota. “We’re Research study features in Proceedings of the tronics. “In many cases you’d like to integrate not there yet, but at least now we have National Academy of Sciences. This study is electronics conformably in a variety of ways in another tool in our tool belt.” Taylor led the important as it suggests that it was the the human body—but the human body does team whose research appeared in Sunday’s therapy itself, rather than a placebo effect, not have the shape of a silicon wafer,” said online edition of the journal Nature Medicine. that was having a positive impact on patients’ Professor John Rogers of the University of Scientists have worked for years for ways to symptoms. However, the work is still at an Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the grow body parts. Many efforts have focused early stage. The main aim was to test whether authors of the paper. “We had to figure out how on heart valves as an alternative to the plastic the therapy was safe. Scientists delivered the to make the entire circuit in an ultra-thin or animal valves that wear out after being gene only to one side of the brain—that format.” Professor Zhenqiang Ma of the implanted in humans. An estimated 5 million which controls movement on the side of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who also people live with heart failure and about body most affected by Parkinson’s—to works on flexible silicon circuitry, said the new 550,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in reduce the potential risk. It makes an research was an important step. “Completely the United States. Approximately 50,000 die inhibitory chemical called GABA that turns integrated, extremely bendable circuits have annually waiting for a heart donor. down the activity in a key part of the been talked about for many years but have not pathway which controls movement. been demonstrated before. This is the first one.” MSNBC 1/13/08 BBC News BBC News http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ 11/20/07 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ 3/27/08 id/22635550/ health/7103127.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ technology/7313203.stm Drugs to Grow Your Brain Drugs that encourage the growth of new neu- rons in the brain are now headed for clinical trials. The drugs, which have already shown success in alleviating symptoms of depression and boosting memory in animal models, are being developed by BrainCells, a San Diego- based start-up that screens drugs for their brain-growing power. The company hopes the compounds will provide an alternative to existing antidepressants and says they may also prove effective in treating cognitive disor- ders, such as Alzheimer’s. “The fact that you might be able to take small molecules to stim- ulate specific cells to regenerate in the brain is paradigm-shifting,” says Christopher Eckman, a neuroscientist at the Mayo Clinic Stretchy silicon chips could have many applications, such as for wearable in Jacksonville, Florida. “[This approach] health monitors and biomedical implants. (Credit: John A. Rogers) takes advantage of the body’s innate ability to

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 19 correct itself when given appropriate cues.” microscopic vehicles could also one day pro- gallons of bioethanol. Their paper appears in Eckman studies compounds that boost brain vide the means to more effectively deliver the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. cell growth in models of neurodegenerative toxic anti-cancer drugs to these tumors in The five-year study, involving 10 farms ranging disease and is not involved with BrainCells. In high concentrations. “The reason these in size from three to nine hectares, was the last ten years, scientists have discovered worms work so well is due to a combination described as the largest study of its kind by the that new neurons are born in the adult brain of their shape and to a polymer coating on paper’s authors. Co-author Ken Vogel of the and that increases or decreases in this cell their surfaces that allows the nanoworms to US Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture growth, known as neurogenesis, may be evade these natural elimination processes,” Research Service, based at the University of involved in myriad brain diseases, including said Michael Sailor, a professor of chemistry Nebraska, Lincoln, said that all previous energy depression, schizophrenia and stroke. and biochemistry at UC San Diego who analyses had been based on data from research headed the research team. plots and estimated inputs. The team also calcu- Technology Review lated that the production and consumption of 6/2/08 UCSanDiego News Center switchgrass-derived ethanol cut CO2 emissions http://www.technologyreview.com/ 5/6/08 by about 94% when compared with an equiva- Biotech/20845/ http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/ lent volume of gasoline. science/05-08Nanoworms.asp BBC News 1/8/08 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/ Five-Seat Concept Car tech/7175397.stm Runs on Air An engineer has promised that within a year he will start selling a car that runs on com- pressed air, producing no emissions at all. The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a fiberglass body, weighing just 350kg (~772 lbs) and could cost about $5,000. It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fiber tanks built into the chassis. The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three min- utes—much quicker than a battery car. Newborn neurons: This image shows a section of the hippocampus, the part of the Alternatively, it can be plugged into an elec- brain important for learning and memory. trical outlet for four hours and an on-board Mature neurons are shown in green, while compressor will do the job. For long journeys Interest in growing switchgrass—a native newborn neurons are orange, and neural stem the compressed air driving the pistons can be prairie grass—for ethanol is growing lately as cells are red. (Credit: BrainCells Inc.) boosted by a fuel burner which heats the air Agricultural Research Service studies led by so it expands and increases the pressure on geneticist Ken Vogel confirm its feasibility. Researchers Target Tumors the pistons. The burner will use all kinds of (Photo: U. S. Department of Agriculture) with Tiny “Nanoworms” liquid fuel. The designers say on long journeys the car will do the equivalent of 120 mpg. Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized BBC News Tinkering Extends Life of “nanoworms” that can cruise through the 2/13/08 Organism by 10-Fold bloodstream without significant interference http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/ from the body’s immune defense system nature/7241909.stm Scientists have extended the lifespan of yeast, and—like tiny anti-cancer missiles—home in microbes responsible for creating bread and on tumors. Their discovery, detailed in this beer, by 10-fold. That’s twice the previous week’s issue of the journal Advanced Materials, Grass Biofuels “Cut CO2 record for life extension in an organism. The is reminiscent of the 1966 science fiction breakthrough could ultimately inform efforts movie, Fantastic Voyage, in which a submarine By 94 Percent” to extend human lives. Instead of one week, is shrunken to microscopic dimensions, then Producing biofuels from a fast-growing grass the yeast lived for about 10 weeks through injected into the bloodstream to remove a delivers vast savings of carbon dioxide emis- genetic tinkering and a low-calorie diet. blood clot from a diplomat’s brain. Using sions compared with gasoline, a large-scale “We’ve reprogrammed the healthy life of an nanoworms, doctors should eventually be study has suggested. A team of US researchers organism,” said Valter Longo, a biologist at able to target and reveal the location of devel- also found that switchgrass-derived ethanol the University of Southern California in Los oping tumors that are too small to detect by produced 540% more energy than was required Angeles who led the life-prolonging experi- conventional methods. Carrying payloads tar- to manufacture the fuel. One acre (0.4 hectares) ments. Longo and his colleagues detail their geted to specific features on tumors, these of the grassland could, on average, deliver 320 findings in two upcoming studies; one in the

20 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org Jan. 25 issue of the journal PLoS Genetics tion this year. The new SSD “represents a research, said it was the first time that DNA and another in the Jan. 14 issue of the Journal bold step in the shift to notebooks with sig- from an extinct species had been used to of Cell Biology. To find out how the age- nificantly improved performance and larger carry out a function in a living organism. defying treatment works in humans, Longo storage capacities,” the company said in a and his group are now studying Ecuadorians statement. Samsung described the new SSD, BBC News who have similar mutations in age-controlling 2.5 inches long and 9.5 millimeters thick, as 5/20/08 genes used in the yeast. the world’s smallest of its kind. It can read up http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/ to 200 megabytes of data per second. It said, nature/7408840.stm MSNBC citing market research agency iSuppli, that 35 1/14/08 percent of notebook computers would use http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22651648/ the SSD by 2012. Automated Mind Reading Now Possible Physorg.com Electronics “Missing Link” Found 5/26/08 A computer can tell with 78 percent accuracy http://www.physorg.com/ when someone is thinking about a hammer Details of an entirely new kind of electronic news131006716.html and not pliers. To detect patterns of brain device, which could make chips smaller and activity, a subject must lie still in a neuro- far more efficient, have been outlined by sci- imaging device, such as a functional magnetic entists. The new components, described by Tasmanian Tiger DNA resonance imaging (fMRI) tube. Just a year scientists at Hewlett-Packard, are known as ago, neuroscientists couldn’t do much better “memristors.” The devices were proposed 40 “Resurrected” than distinguish thoughts of faces from years ago but have only recently been fabri- A fragment of DNA from the Tasmanian thoughts of places (the brain has distinct cated, the team wrote in the journal Nature. tiger has been brought back to life, says a regions that process images of each). “All we They have already been used to build novel University of Melbourne team. Australian could do was tell which brain region was transistors—tiny switches that are the scientists extracted genetic material from a active,” says neuroscientist John-Dylan building blocks of all chips. “Now we have 100-year-old museum specimen, and put it Haynes of the Max Planck Institute for this type of device we have a broader palette into a mouse embryo to study how it Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in with which to paint our circuits,” Professor worked. The study, published online by the Leipzig, Germany. “There were real limits on Stan Williams, one of the team, told the BBC Public Library of Science (PLoS), suggests our ability to read the content of that last year. Memristors were first proposed in the marsupial’s genetic biodiversity may not activity.” No longer. “The new realization is 1971 by Professor Leon Chua, a scientist at be lost. Starting with extracted DNA, the that every thought is associated with a pattern the University of California, Berkeley. They team injected a gene involved in cartilage of brain activity,” says Haynes, “and you can are the “fourth” basic building block of cir- formation into developing mouse embryos. train a computer to recognize the pattern cuits, after capacitors, resistors and inductors. The DNA functioned in a similar way to the associated with a particular thought.” The memristors are so-called because they equivalent gene in mice, giving information have the ability to “remember” the amount of about the genetic makeup of the extinct Newsweek.com charge that has flowed through them after the marsupial. Dr Andrew Pask, of the 1/21/08 power has been switched off. This could allow Department of Zoology, who led the http://www.newsweek.com/id/91688 researchers to build new kinds of computer memory that would not require powering up.

BBC News 5/1/08 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ technology/7377063.stm

Samsung Electronics Unveils New SSD Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s largest computer chip maker, said May 26 it has developed a new solid-state drive (SSD) which is expected to replace hard disk drives in laptop computers. (Unlike traditional com- puter hard drives, SSDs lack moving parts.) Samsung said its 256-gigabyte SSD for data storage is 2.4 times faster than traditional hard The Tasmanian tiger, a carnivorous marsupial, is thought to have gone extinct in 1936. drives. The company plans to begin produc- This pair lived at the US National Zoological Park in Washington DC from 1902 to 1905.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 21 Monkey’s Brain advance of a pandemic. Nine out of 10 of May 25 advanced online issue of Nature, may Controls Robot Arm those who had two doses of the shot ACAM- not only prove useful in developing treatments FLU-A developed antibodies against flu virus. for the millions around the globe still living Monkeys have been able to control robotic with the lethal virus but, the technique created limbs using only their thoughts, scientists BBC News to image its assembly may also change the way report. The animals were able to feed them- 1/4/08 scientists think about and approach their own selves using prosthetic arms, which were con- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ research. “The use of this technique is almost trolled by brain activity. Small probes, the width health/7171118.stm unlimited,” says Nolwenn Jouvenet, a postdoc of a human hair, were inserted into the mon- who spearheaded this project under the direc- keys’ primary motor cortex—the region of the tion of HIV expert Paul Bieniasz and cellular brain that controls movement. Writing in Nano Switch Hints biophysicist Sandy Simon, who has been devel- Nature journal, the authors said their work at Future Chips oping the imaging technique since 1992. “Now could eventually help amputees and people who that we can actually see a virus being born, it are paralyzed. Lead researcher Dr. Andrew Researchers have built the world’s smallest gives us the opportunity to answer previously Schwartz, who is based at the University of transistor—one atom thick and 10 atoms unanswered questions, not only in virology but Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said: “We are wide—out of a material that could one day in biology in general.” beginning to understand how the brain works replace silicon. The transistor, essentially an using brain-machine interface technology. The on/off switch, has been made using ScienceDaily more we understand about the brain, the better graphene, a two-dimensional material first 5/26/08 we’ll be able to treat a wide range of brain dis- discovered only four years ago. Graphene is a http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ orders, everything from Parkinson’s disease and single layer of graphite, which is found in the 2008/05/080525132345.htm paralysis to, eventually, Alzheimer’s disease and humble pencil. The transistor is the key perhaps even mental illness.” With the probes building block of microchips and the basis for almost all electronics. Dr Kostya Novoselov inserted into the monkeys’ motor cortices, Food Freezing Technique Offers computer software was used to interpret the and Professor Andre Geim from The School brain’s electrical impulses and translate them of Physics and Astronomy at The University Hope for Organ Preservation into movement through the robotic arm. The of Manchester have been leading research Norio Owada’s freezing method can keep milk monkeys were able to use their brains to contin- into the potential application of graphene in fresh for months. Livers, too. About a decade uously change the speed and direction of the electronics and were the first to separate a ago Owada, 64, brought to market an inven- arm and the gripper, suggesting that the mon- sheet of the material from graphite. tion called the cells alive system. Not since keys had come to regard the robotic arm as a Graphene has been hailed as a super material Clarence Birdseye’s fast-freeze method came part of their own bodies. because it has many potential applications. It along in the 1920s has there been a chiller tech- is a flat molecule, with only the thickness of nology with this much potential to change the BBC News an atom, and both very stable and robust. The world. Birdseye was able to freeze food with 5/28/08 researchers are also looking at its use in dis- minimal cell damage; Owada has eliminated http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/ play technology—because it is transparent. harm from the process. It works like a nature/7423184.stm The Manchester, UK-based scientists have microwave oven but in reverse. Inside the shown that graphene can be carved into tiny freezer the object being frozen is zapped with electronic circuits with individual transistors a strong magnetic field and, Owada says, other not much larger than a molecule. kinds of energy. The field keeps the cream or Universal Flu Shot beef ’s water molecules swirling in liquid form Works in People BBC News even as their temperature plummets. When the A single shot that could give lifelong protection 4/17/08 field is switched off, the object is instantly against all types of flu has produced promising http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/ frozen, without time for the formation of ice results in human trials. The vaccine, made by hi/technology/7352464.stm crystals. These crystals normally rip apart Acambis, should protect against all strains of organic cells, which degrades the texture and influenza A—the cause of pandemics. taste of food. Forty-seven researchers are Currently, winter flu shots have to be regularly experimenting with Owada’s technology to redesigned because the flu virus keeps Scientists Image a Single HIV preserve human organs. A group at Tokyo changing. The new vaccine would overcome Particle Being Born University is freezing mouse hearts with a tech- this and could be stockpiled in advance of a A virologist and a biophysicist at Rockefeller nology similar to Owada’s. Another group at bird flu outbreak, say experts. Globally, between University are making history. By using a spe- Keio University is preserving nerve fibers. 500,000 and one million people die each year cialized microscope that only illuminates a cell’s Owada predicts that the first defrosted organ from influenza. But a pandemic of the human surface, they have become the first to see, in transplant could happen within a decade. form of bird flu, which experts believe is real time and in plain view, hundreds of thou- inevitable, could kill as many as 50 million sands of molecules coming together in a living Forbes people worldwide. The US trials show that the cell to form a single particle of the virus that 6/2/08 shot is safe and it works fast to make the body has, in less than 25 years, claimed more than 25 http://www.forbes.com/global/ immune against flu. It could be stockpiled in million lives: HIV. This work, published in the 2008/0602/053.html

22 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org Meetings

About the Alcor Foundation DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a nonprofit tax-exempt scientific and educa- tional organization dedicated to advancing the science of cryopreservation and pro- Life Extension Society, Inc. is a moting it as a rational option. Being an Alcor member means knowing that—should cryonics and life extension group with the worst happen—Alcor’s Emergency Response Team is ready to respond for you, 24 members from Washington, D.C., hours a day, 365 days a year. Virginia, and Maryland. Meetings are held monthly. Contact Secretary Keith Alcor’s Emergency Response capability includes specially trained technicians and cus- Lynch at [email protected]. For tomized equipment in Arizona, northern California, southern California, and south information on LES, see our web site at Florida, as well as many additional certified technicians on-call around the United www.keithlynch.net/les States. Alcor’s Arizona facility includes a full-time staff, and the Patient Care Bay is per- sonally monitored 24 hours a day. ARIZONA CALIFORNIA MASSACHUSETTS

Scottsdale: Los Angeles: Boston: This group meets the third Friday of each Alcor Southern California Meetings— A cryonics discussion group meets month and gatherings are hosted by Alcor For information, call Peter Voss at the second Sunday of each month. For employee Regina Pancake. To RSVP, visit (310) 822-4533 or e-mail him at more information, contact David http://cryonics.meetup.com/45/ or email [email protected]. Although monthly Greenstein at (508) 879-3234, e-mail: [email protected]. meetings are not held regularly, you can [email protected]. meet Los Angeles Alcor members by con- At Alcor: tacting Peter. TEXAS Alcor Board of Directors Meetings and San Francisco Bay: Facility Tours – Alcor business meetings are Dallas: generally held on the first Saturday of every Alcor Northern California Meetings are North Texas Cryonauts, please sign up for month starting at 11:00 am MST. Guests held quarterly in January, April, July, and our announcements list for meetings are welcome. Facility tours are held every October. A CryoFeast is held once a year. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cry- Tuesday and Friday at 2:00 pm. For more For information on Northern California onauts-announce) or contact David Wallace information or to schedule a tour, call meetings, call Marek (Mark) Galecki at Croft at (214) 636-3790 for details of D’Bora Tarrant at (877) 462-5267 x 101 or (408)245-4928 or email Mark_galeck@pac- upcoming meetings. email [email protected]. bell.net.

NEVADA WASHINGTON UNITED KINGDOM

Las Vegas: Seattle: There is an Alcor chapter in England. There are many Alcor members in For information on Northwest Its members are working diligently to build the Las Vegas area. If you wish to meetings, call Richard Gillman at (425) solid emergency response, transport, and meet and socialize, contact Katie Kars 641-5136 or join the e-mail group cryopreservation capability. For information at (702) 251-1975. This group wants to CryonicsNW at http://groups.yahoo. about meetings, contact Alan Sinclair at get to know you! com/group/CryonicsNW [email protected]. See the web site at www.alcor-uk.org.

Host a Meeting in your area. NEW ENGLAND A New England area group meets regularly. For If you are interested in hosting regular meetings in your area, meeting dates and to be included in the group contact Alcor at 877-462-5267 ext. 113. Meetings are a great email list please contact either David Greenstein way to learn about cryonics, meet others with similar interests, at 508-879-3234 or [email protected] and introduce your friends and family to Alcor members! or Bret Kulakovich at 508-946-4626 (8am-8pm EST) or [email protected].

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24 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org What is Cryonics?CRYONICS ryonics is an attempt to preserve and protect the gift of human life, not reverse death. It is the spec- Culative practice of using extreme cold to preserve the life of a person who can no longer be support- ed by today’s medicine. Will future medicine, including mature nanotechnology, have the ability to heal at the cellular and molecular levels? Can cryonics successfully carry the cryopreserved person forward through time, for however many decades or centuries might be necessary, until the cryopreservation process can be reversed and the person restored to full health? While cryonics may sound like science fiction, there is a basis for it in real science. The complete scientific story of cryonics is seldom told in media reports, leaving cryonics widely misunderstood. We invite you to reach your own conclusions. How doF I findIND out OUTmore? MORE he Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the world leader in cryonics research and technology. Alcor Tis a non-profit organization located in Scottsdale, Arizona, founded in 1972. Our website is one of the best sources of detailed introductory information about Alcor and cryopreservation (www.alcor.org). We also invite you to request our FREE information package on the “Free Information” section of our website. It includes:

• A 30-minute DVD documentary “The Limitless Future” • A fully illustrated color brochure • A sample of our magazine • An application for membership and brochure explaining how to join • And more!

Your free package should arrive in 1-2 weeks. (The complete package will be sent free in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.) How doEN I enroll?ROLL Signing up for a cryopreservation is easy! Step 1: Fill out an application and submit it with your $150 application fee. Step 2: You will then be sent a set of contracts to review and sign. Step 3: Fund your cryopreservation. While most people use life insurance to fund their cryopreservation, other forms of prepayment are also accepted. Alcor’s Membership Coordinator can provide you with a list of insurance agents familiar with satisfying Alcor’s current fund- ing requirements. Finally: After enrolling, you will wear emergency alert tags or carry a special card in your wallet. This is your confirmation that Alcor will respond immediately to an emergency call on your behalf.

Call toll-free today to start your application: 877-462-5267 ext. 132 [email protected] www.alcor.org

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