4th Quarter 2008 • Volume 29:4

Alcor Supports Molecular Nanotechnology Research and Development page 3

A Cryopreservation Revival Scenario using mNT page 7

interview with Robert Freitas anD Ralph Merkle page 9

Member Profile: ISSN 1054-4305 Kumar Krishnamsetty page 12

$9.95 ALCOR SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD MEETING

By Ralph C. Merkle, Chairman, Alcor Scientific Advisory Board

The Alcor Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) met on December 9th and 10th, 2008 in Melbourne, Florida.

he first day was devoted to how the cryonics community could Endorsement of Molecular Nanotechnology Research and Development (see the Thelp speed the development of MNT (molecular nanotech- full text in the box below). The full Alcor Board endorsed the state- nology), and how MNT could enable repair of cryopreserved patients. ment at their next regular meeting. We plan to seek broader support Ralph Merkle and Robert Freitas gave a 90 slide Power Point for this statement. presentation about their plan to develop MNT. Further information We’d like to thank all the attendees for making it a stimulating and about their work is available at The Nanofactory Collaboration web- productive meeting. We’d like to offer our particular thanks to Martine site – see http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/Nanofactory, which Rothblatt, whose generous support made the meeting possible. provides an overview of the issues involved in developing nanofacto- The first day SAB attendees were: Antonei Csoka, Aubrey de ries. Grey, Robert Freitas, James Lewis, Ralph Merkle, Marvin Minsky, and Part of their presentation discussed a specific set of nine molec- Martine Rothblatt. Non SAB attendees were Gloria Rudisch (Marvin’s ular tools composed of hydrogen, carbon, and germanium. This is wife), Lori Rhodes, and Tanya Jones. Martine Rothblatt proposed that described in complete technical detail in A Minimal Toolset for Positional the SAB needed a chairman and nominated Ralph Merkle for the posi- Diamond Mechanosynthesis – see http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/ tion. The nomination was approved unanimously. Papers/MinToolset.pdf. The nine tools can be used to both recharge On the second day, Melody Maxim joined the discussion, and all nine tools and make additional tools, as well as build a wide range Martine Rothblatt did not attend (she was at a Terasem meeting). The of atomically precise hydrocarbon structures (diamond, nanotubes, second day was focused on cryopreservation methods, how they could polyynes, fullerenes, and many others) – starting from just raw mate- be improved, and how the credibility of cryonics could be improved rials (feedstock molecules). The bulk of the paper describes the spe- in the scientific community. I cific mechanosynthetic reactions required in this process, and their evaluation using Gaussian, a standard computational chemistry Endorsement of Molecular Nanotechnology package. They also mentioned the $3M 5-year grant to Professor Philip Research and Development Moriarty in the School of Physics at the University of Nottingham to The development of molecular nanotechnology will speed solu- experimentally investigate some of the proposed tools and reactions – tions to the most difficult problems of medicine, including aging see http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/Nanofactory/Media/ and reversible suspended animation. Molecular nanotechnology is PressReleaseAug08.htm the most compelling approach ever put forward for comprehen- The Alcor SAB then discussed The importance of MNT to the cryonics sive repair of cryopreservation injury with maximum retention of community and A cr yopreservation revival scenario using MNT (which both original biological information. Support for immediate develop- appear in this issue of Cryonics). ment of molecular nanotechnology by cryonicists and life exten- Following this, a draft statement of support for research in MNT sionists could compress the historical timeline of this technology, by the cryonics community was presented. After some discussion and bringing benefits decades sooner than otherwise. wordsmithing the Alcor SAB formally voted to support this

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2008 3 THE IMPORTANCE OF MNT TO THE CRYONICS COMMUNITY

By Ralph C. Merkle and Robert A. Freitas Jr.

©2008 All Rights Reserved

A Call To Action ability to do cryopreservations. Whether by needed. This data could be obtained via high- The cryonics community should robustly research on better methods, or better facilities, resolution imaging of the cryopreserved support research in two critical areas: better or better equipment, or better training, or better human brain (possibly destructively), after methods of cryopreservation, and methods logistics and deployment, we understand that which the resulting information would be of reviving cryopreserved patients. We we are the ones who must do the work because used to create an artificial brain with the same already know we must do the former. But there is no one else to do it for us. memories, hopes, dreams and personality as now, it seems, we must also do the latter. This quest for better cryopreservations the person who was cryopreserved. Many The best approach for revival is to develop continues today, and will continue until some people trained in the fields of artificial intelli- and apply MNT (molecular nanotechnology). future day when fully reversible cryo- gence, computer science, and philosophy of The faster we do this, the sooner we will be able preservation becomes possible. This is a key mind strongly support this option, but some to revive cryopreserved patients and the less goal of cryonics research. others are uncomfortable with the idea. time they will spend in storage. We will also But until that future day arrives, a cryop- obtain medical nanodevices able to cure a wide reserved patient must rely upon the develop- Our Community Can Speed the range of other severe injuries, along with the ment and the application of new technologies Development of MNT broader capabilities of MNT that will benefit to allow the person’s body to be restored to Can we really make a difference in the both us and the rest of humanity. complete health. This is a second key goal of development of MNT? The answer is an Look around the world and ask: who has cryonics research. unequivocal “Yes!” Recent work (see the vision and the will to develop MNT? Few One of these new technologies is MNT. www.MolecularAssembler.com/Nanofactory) are heeding the call. The development of While in theory there might be other ways to makes it clear that the MNT revolution can be MNT might be delayed by many decades for revive cryopreserved patients, MNT is by far accelerated by decades with well focused want of relatively modest research funding the best studied and best known approach. research investments of only millions to tens today. To correct this situation we must look Based on our current knowledge, MNT seems of millions of dollars. We have those to ourselves. We must vigorously fund MNT the most likely to give us the vibrant good resources within our community. research now. health that we seek. Are others working towards this goal? Remarkably, the answer is “No.” As first pro- Two Key Goals for Cryonics Research Reviving Cryopreserved Patients using posed, the National Nanotechnology Initiative Alcor is a coalition of individuals with MNT had funding to investigate MNT. This funding diverse beliefs, opinions and hopes. We all Perhaps the most generally appealing was removed from the bill under political pres- share a common belief that life is good, that approach to patient revival is to repair the cry- sure before it was signed by President Bush in saving lives is the right thing to do, and that opreserved biological structure, returning the December 2003. Today, funding in the United we can save lives through cryonics. We want person to full health by employing a process States for MNT is still being actively blocked to save our own lives, the lives of our loved that saves and restores the original tissue.* and research scientists eager for tenure and ones, the lives of our friends, the lives of our This is technically challenging but appears grants are careful to avoid the subject. As a neighbors, and indeed the lives of everyone quite feasible using MNT. One such MNT- result, vital research is not being pursued, we can. based revival scenario is outlined in the advances are not being made, and it is unclear The core of cryonics is easy to describe: accompanying article. how long this political logjam will continue to those who have exhausted all other medical Alternative methods for revival of a cry- block progress. Similar political problems in options can be cryopreserved until future opreserved patient without direct tissue repair other fields have often cost decades of delay. technology can restore them to full and have been proposed, but these too most likely In the case of MNT, delay will cost many lives vibrant health. require MNT. The simplest such method – possibly including ours. As a consequence, we (cryonicists as a relies on the argument that recovery of per- What should we do? We must recognize, community) have worked hard to improve our sonality-relevant information is all that is once again, that it falls to us to support the

4 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org research upon which our lives depend. In this 1959 talk “There’s Plenty of Room at the graphene, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, sap- case, we must identify and support the critical Bottom.” Since then, Feynman’s original intu- phire, and a host of other astonishingly strong research that will speed the development of ition has been supported by a wealth of both and lightweight materials. This capability will let MNT. As it happens, we have within our com- experimental and theoretical research. us inexpensively build remarkably powerful munity some of the finest minds in the world On the experimental front, it is almost computers and vast fleets of medical nanoro- in MNT (just as we have some of the finest routine to arrange tens to hundreds of atoms in bots that can directly intervene in biological sys- minds in cryobiology, life extension and other atomically precise patterns on various atomi- tems even at the level of cellular, subcellular, areas – which is not an accident). cally flat surfaces, spelling out corporate or gov- and molecular structures. Armed with these More specifically, the most direct path to ernmental logos, or arranging atoms in patterns nanodevices, doctors will be able to repair even MNT is to develop mechanosynthesis useful for some limited scientific purpose. extensive damage to human tissues. MNT will (www.MolecularAssembler.com/Nanofactory On the theoretical front, computational revolutionize medicine, marking a quantum /DMS.htm) and then to use it to build the analyses fully support the idea that molecular leap in our ability to stay healthy and thus to first engineered molecular machines. The tools should be able to hold, position and avoid much of the need for cryopreservation in Nanofactory Collaboration initiated the first assemble molecular parts into complex three the first place. Developed in time, MNT could work on the direct path to MNT by pub- dimensional structures. Experimental work to play a role in the demonstration of fully lishing an extensive theoretical analysis of explore these possibilities has begun, and dra- reversible cryopreservation. early steps in the R&D process. We were then matic results are expected over the coming More generally, MNT is expected to pro- fortunate to persuade Philip Moriarty, one of years and decades. vide material abundance for humanity and the finest experimentalists in the United The ability of molecular manufacturing enable a whole range of novel capabilities Kingdom, to join us in realizing the first step machines to build more molecular manufac- beyond better computers and medical tech- along this path. In late 2008, Philip received a turing machines should lead to many orders- nologies – such as the ability to feed a hungry 5-year $3 million grant from the Engineering of-magnitude price reductions for both the world, roll back environmental damage, and Physical Sciences Research Council to machines themselves and the products that directly control the climate, and afford cheap experimentally investigate the Collaboration’s those machines can manufacture. A readily access to space. MNT gives us options for mechanosynthesis proposals (see accessible example of such a capability can be improving the human condition that can www.MolecularAssembler.com/Nanofactory found in nature: potatoes can make more scarcely be imagined today. /Media/PressReleaseAug08.htm). This grant potatoes, and as a consequence potatoes are As with many other technology revolu- was historic but, sadly, unique. Additional widely available at low cost. When examined tions in the past, MNT will open up major funding from traditional mainstream sources closely, the potato is made of exceedingly new avenues for wealth creation beyond life in the United States or elsewhere appears complex molecular machines able to build preservation, likely producing a fresh crop of unlikely anytime soon. more molecular machines – yet we think global billionaires among those few farsighted nothing of mashing these miracles of nature individuals who grasp the opportunity. What is MNT? and, with a little butter and salt, eating them Molecular nanotechnology is the antici- for dinner. Acknowledgements pated future ability to manufacture products by MNT should bring the economics of We would like to thank Aubrey de Grey and inexpensively arranging atoms in most of the potatoes to a much wider range of complex Brian Wowk for their comments and insight ways permitted by physical law. The idea was atomically precise manufactured products, on an earlier draft which greatly improved the first discussed in Richard Feynman’s visionary including products made from diamond, final result. I

* Published literature on revival includes: Robert C.W. Ettinger, The Prospect of Immortality, Doubleday, NY, 1964; Jerome B. White, “Viral Induced Repair of Damaged Neurons with Preservation of Long-Term Information Content,” Second Annual Cryonics Conference, Ann Arbor MI, 11 April 1969; Michael G. Darwin, “The Anabolocyte: A Biological Approach to Repairing Cryoinjury,” Life Extension Magazine (July-August 1977):80-83, http://www.alcor.org/Library/pdfs/anabolocyte.pdf; Thomas Donaldson, “How Will They Bring Us Back, 200 Years From Now?” The Immortalist 12(March 1981):5-10; K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, Anchor Press/Doubleday, New York, 1986, pp. 133-138; Brian Wowk, “Cell Repair Technology,” Cryonics 9(July 1988), http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/cellrepairmachines.html; Mike Darwin, “Resuscitation: A Speculative Scenario for Recovery,” Cryonics 9(July 1988):33-37, http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/resuscitation.htm; Thomas Donaldson, “24th Century Medicine,” Analog 108(September 1988):64-80 and Cryonics 9(December 1988), http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/24thcenturymedicine.html; Ralph C. Merkle, “Molecular Repair of the Brain,” Cryonics 10(October 1989):21-44; Gregory M. Fahy, “Molecular Repair Of The Brain: A Scientific Critique, with a Response from Dr. Merkle,” Cryonics 12(February 1991):8-11 & Cryonics 12(May 1991), http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/MolecularRepair-Critique.html; “Appendix B. A ‘Realistic’ Scenario for Nanotechnological Repair of the Frozen Human Brain,” in Brian Wowk, Michael Darwin, eds., Cryonics: Reaching for Tommorow, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 1991, http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/nanotechrepair.html; Ralph C. Merkle, “The Technical Feasibility of Cryonics,” Medical Hypotheses 39(1992):6-16, http://www.merkle.com/cryo/techFeas.html; Ralph C. Merkle, “The Molecular Repair of the Brain,” Cryonics 15(January 1994):16-31 (Part I) & Cryonics 15(April 1994):20-32 (Part II), http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/MolecularRepairOfTheBrain. htm; Ralph C. Merkle, “Cryonics, Cryptography, and Maximum Likelihood Estimation,” First Extropy Institute Conference, Sunnyvale CA, 1994, http://www.merkle.com/ cryo/cryptoCryo.html; Ralph Merkle, “Algorithmic Feasibility of Molecular Repair of the Brain,” Cryonics 16(First Quarter 1995):15-16; Michael V. Soloviev, “SCRAM Reanimation,” Cryonics 17(First Quarter 1996):16-18, http://www.alcor.org/cryonics/cryonics1996-1.pdf; Mikhail V. Soloviev, “A Cell Repair Algorithm,” Cryonics 19(First Quarter 1998):22-27, http://www.alcor.org/cryonics/cryonics1998-1.pdf; Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Section 10.5 Temperature Effects on Medical Nanorobots,” in Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999, pp. 372-375; http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMI/10.5.htm; Ralph C. Merkle, Robert A. Freitas Jr., “A Cryopreservation Revival Scenario using MNT,” Cryonics 29(Fourth Quarter 2008).

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2008 5 After the chromallocyte locates and docks with the cell nucleus, it extends a tool-tipped robotic arm into the nucleoplasm. The job of this nanorobot is to replace old damaged chromosomes with new ones in every cell. © 2008 E-spaces 3danimation.e-spaces.com (artwork) and Robert A. Freitas Jr. www.rfreitas.com (concept/design). A CRYOPRESERVATION REVIVAL SCENARIO USING MNT

By Ralph C. Merkle and Robert A. Freitas Jr.

©2008 All Rights Reserved

e briefly outline one possible cryo- process would more closely resemble drilling repair activities. Finally, power distribution Wpreservation revival scenario using a tunnel than anything else, and would require can take place by whatever means is conven- MNT (molecular nanotechnology). A full the use of molecular machines able to func- ient (www.nanomedicine.com/NMI/6.4.htm), analysis will require much further work and tion at (for example) LN2 temperature including distribution of electrical power via detailed research. Our principal assumptions (though the particular temperature could be carbon nanotubes (which can have remark- are that a reasonably mature MNT will exist, adjusted as might be found useful). ably high conductivity). and that the patient has received a “good” This basic process will employ molecular During the repair process, various molec- cryopreservation by current standards, machines that can operate at low temperature, ular inputs will be required and molecular out- including the introduction of appropriate and can sense and remove the kinds of mate- puts must be removed. A cryonics-specialized levels of cryoprotectants. rials found in the circulatory system. variant of an artificial vasculature or “vascu- Fortunately, proposals for diamondoid molec- loid” (see www.jetpress.org/volume11/vascu- Pre-Repair Operations ular machines that operate at low temperature loid.html) redesigned to operate at low tem- The first question we face in designing a are common. Gears, bearings, ratchets, sliding peratures could be installed to carry out this cryopreservation revival scenario is whether interfaces and the rest work quite well regard- function. In this variant, the initial transport to warm the patient to provide a liquid envi- less of temperature, and detailed analyses of load would be orders of magnitude smaller ronment before beginning, or to initiate molecular structures bear out this claim. than the load that a fully functional vasculoid repairs at low temperature (77 K for patients Unlike biological systems that typically require would be required to handle in a normally in LN2, or perhaps ~140 K for patients in the liquid water in which to operate, diamondoid metabolizing person even at basal rates. (The future who elect Intermediate Temperature molecular machines can operate in vacuum original vasculoid was scaled to handle peak Storage (ITS)). with no need for lubricants and at tempera- metabolic rates.) Roughly speaking, a vascu- The obvious disadvantage of warming tures as low as we might desire. loid is an artificial circulatory system that before initiating repairs is that further deteriora- enables coordinated ciliary transport of con- tion will take place, which might result in the Logistics System Installation tainerized cargoes using a leak-tight coating of loss of personality-relevant information (e.g., Coordination, communication and machinery on the inner vascular walls. The warming might cause deterioration of synaptic power for these molecular machines can again vasculoid appliance is readily modified to or neurological structures). We know that cur- be provided at low temperature. Designs for operate at low temperature, and can easily rent methods of cryopreservation cause frac- very compact molecular computers able to span relatively large cross-capillary breaks. tures. While these fractures, like fractures in operate at arbitrarily low temperatures (specif- This initial stage brings medical nanode- glass, are expected to produce minimal infor- ically including rod logic, a type of molecular vices to within ~20 microns of any point in mation loss, they would nevertheless create mechanical computation) are well known in the brain via the circulatory system, and pro- problems with structural integrity that, upon the literature and could provide the computa- vides distributed power and control as well as warming, could lead to further deterioration. tional power needed to coordinate repair massive computational resources located out- Without some form of stabilization, warming activities. Several modes of communication side the tissue undergoing repair. Initial sur- fractures would be like slicing the tissue with are available, including molecular cables that veys of the tissue would provide damage esti- incredibly sharp knives – on its face not some- should be able to transmit data at gigabit rates mates at specific sites, including a detailed thing that we wish to do. Other forms of or higher (www.nanomedicine.com/ mapping of fractures. A variety of imaging damage that had occurred either prior to NMI/7.2.5.htm). By coupling activity of on- modalities (www.nanomedicine.com/NMI/ cooling or during the cooling process might, board repair devices to off-board computa- 4.8.htm) could be used to provide extensive upon warming, also cause continued deteriora- tional resources, the overall repair process information about the cellular structure tion of the tissue. As a consequence, initiating could be guided by massive computational throughout the immobilized tissue. At this the repair process at low temperature is the resources located outside of the patient, thus stage, the external computer guiding repairs more conservative approach. avoiding concerns about patient heating would come to possess detailed structural The first step in low temperature repair is caused by waste heat from the computational information of the entire system down to the to clear out the circulatory system. This resources required to plan and coordinate cellular and subcellular level. If the cryo-

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2008 7 preservation had generally gone well, this fact that are slow to recover and then either hasten system would adjust these concentrations as would be apparent and relatively minimal their recovery (possibly by the use of artificially needed to minimize damage, both during the analysis and repairs would be required. If the designed chaperones) or support their missing re-warming process and also later while meta- cryopreservation had produced more signifi- function by other means during recovery. (The bolic activities were being re-established. cant damage in some areas, this damage could recovery of many tissue types after cooling to be tabulated and assessed, and appropriate low temperature supports this approach – if Fracture Sealing and Comprehensive repair strategies could be planned. There is any significant fraction of proteins failed to Cell Repair reason to believe that even very serious recover, one would not expect any tissues to At some higher temperature, with suffi- damage could be analyzed, the original spontaneously survive such treatment.) In those cient fluidity for tissues to flow and reduce healthy state determined, and appropriate cases where critical functionality does not spon- strain, the fracture faces can be brought repair strategies adopted (see, for example, taneously recover with sufficient rapidity, it together and the support sheets removed and “Cryonics, Cryptography, and Maximum would be possible to introduce new properly exported from the body. One simple concep- Likelihood Estimation” at www.merkle.com/ folded proteins at an appropriate temperature tual mechanism for bringing the fracture faces cryo/cryptoCryo.html). to take over the critical functions that have been together involves using biologically inert compromised, and then let the tissue recover by “strings” attached to specific matching sites Fracture Stabilization itself later on, once it has resumed normal on two support sheets that are stabilizing the Current cryopreservation methods create functioning. Re-denaturation of proteins can two opposing faces of a particular fracture. fractures, some of which can have gaps that are largely be avoided by delaying repairs to higher Pulling the strings tight draws the opposing tens or even hundreds of microns across. temperatures in a series of stages depending on fracture faces together. Even fracture gaps as Unstabilized, these fractures would cause fur- which repairs are needed at various tempera- large as 0.5 millimeters can be accommo- ther tissue deterioration upon warming. tures. dated, since all the individual support sheets Stabilization of fractures can be done by the The cryopreservation process and the in a large block of tissue can be simultane- synthesis of artificial surfaces specifically changes prior to cryopreservation have likely ously manipulated as an incremental three- designed to conform to the exposed faces of caused imbalances in the concentrations of dimensional global strain release network to the fractures. For example, we could make a specific chemicals. Concentrations of sodium, slowly heal the breaks. stable support sheet of ~1 nanometer thick- potassium, other ions, ATP, glucose, oxygen, Once the system is liquid it becomes pos- ness to which arrays of hydrophilic and and many other metabolites and chemicals are sible to introduce other medical nanodevices hydrophobic molecular surface “decorations” likely not at desirable values. Concentrations to deal with specific forms of damage, are attached. By making the decorations match of cryoprotectants might or might not be at including pre-existing damage – like the pres- the exposed face of the fracture, this support desired levels for the particular temperature, ence of lipofuscin or other undesired intracel- sheet would stabilize the fracture face on so it might be useful to remove cryoprotec- lular or extracellular junk, nuclear mutations warming and prevent further deterioration. tants employed during the cryopreservation or epimutations (http://jetpress.org/v16/fre- The success of this approach depends upon and replace them with newer cryoprotectants itas.pdf), damaged mitochondria (which could the ability of MNT to synthesize an appro- that have more desirable properties. As the simply be removed and replaced with new, priate support sheet – which we expect to be tissue becomes more fluid, concentrations of functionally correct mitochondria), and a well within the capabilities of the technology. any specific chemical can be measured and wide range of other conditions. Following stabilization of fracture sur- adjusted. Direct access to cells surrounding faces the system temperature can be slowly the capillary lumen is available, and the use of Patient Wake-up increased without risk that the fractures will tubular probes (which could be introduced After the patient has been repaired, stabi- contribute to further deterioration. The sup- from the luminal vasculoid face once the lized and warmed to conditions of moderate port sheet would remain in contact with the liquid environment becomes sufficiently vis- hypothermia, metabolic activities and concen- fracture face even as the fracture face expands cous to allow such probes to penetrate) would tration gradients appropriate to a healthy or contracts during warming – the thin sup- provide direct access to the intracellular con- functional state can be re-established. The port sheet would readily conform to such tents of cells 10 or 20 microns from any cap- vasculoid increases its transport activities to changes in shape. illary. Concentrations of reactive molecules levels appropriate for a healthy human under such as oxygen and other reactive metabolites normal conditions. The vasculoid can then be Tissue Chemistry Restoration would be kept low until later in the recovery removed (in accordance with the sequence As the temperature increases and some process, with metabolism also kept on hold described in the vasculoid paper) and the degree of fluidity is reintroduced into the tissue, during this time. patient is now fully restored but unconscious. the repair process can turn to other issues. In The support system and external com- Finally, the person is gently ramped through particular, some proteins have likely been dena- puter would have essentially total control over mild hypothermia up to normal body temper- tured during the cryopreservation process. As the concentration of all chemical compounds ature with initiation of consciousness and full most proteins should spontaneously recover, in all cellular and even subcellular compart- awareness of surroundings. The patient is the technical challenge will be to identify those ments in the recovering patient. The control now awake and healthy. I

8 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org Interview with Robert Freitas & Ralph Merkle

1. How and when did you get interested So, was anyone pushing this forward? I spent simply one of the items on my list of possi- in nanotechnology and cryonics? half a year reading every nanotechnology- bilities, and not very high on my list at that. related book, paper, and article I could lay my My initial intuition was that the human body Freitas: For me, cryonics and life extension hands on. Back in 1994, the technical discus- was a very complex machine which had not came first. In 1968 at the age of 15, I wrote sion was still mired in debates over whether or evolved to cope with freezing. This intuition the first 55 pages of an unfinished science fic- not nanotechnology was possible at all, and the persisted through my review of cryobiology, tion novel about a teenager who volunteers to popular discussion mostly dealt with general but I rapidly concluded that cryonics – unlike be placed in a time capsule and frozen using objectives or with hoped-for capabilities, any other approach – could benefit from the new science of “cryobionics.” The com- without a lot of technical content and with very future technology developed any time in the puter controlled facility was programmed to few specifics. I contacted the Foresight course of the next few centuries. This led me wake the traveler every century or so, where- Institute and was told that nobody had yet to review the fundamental limits of what upon he would emerge from a hidden high- written any systematic treatment of the medical would be possible and whether the kind of tech mountain lair and explore first-hand the area, nor was anyone planning to do so in the injuries that occur during cryopreservation progress mankind had achieved during his near future. So I took up the multi-year chal- would eventually be reversible. frozen slumber. “Why do it?” the boy was lenge of researching and writing the Nanomedicine This was a rather complex undertaking, asked. “Curiosity,” he replied. “I want to see book series (www.nanomedicine.com) the first but after reviewing and considering the avail- how man’s technology will grow, and how book-length technical discussion of medical able literature it was pretty obvious that cry- man himself will change, through the years.” nanorobotics. Two volumes were published in onics, assuming any reasonable care in cryo- Today, 41 years later, I’m still motivated by 1999 and 2003 with two more in progress, and preservation, would almost certainly work. (I this same curiosity about the future, but I’m scaling studies for seven different medical wish to thank the Xerox PARC library staff driven even more strongly by the desire to nanorobot designs (including the first cell repair who tracked down the articles from any refer- actually create that future – and to find a way device) have been completed since then. ence I gave them. Some of the references were, to directly experience it, in person. By 2001, it became apparent that there was even by PARC standards, pretty unusual!) I believe the first time I ever thought about no serious molecular manufacturing develop- Once I had completed the analysis to my per- atomic-scale engineered objects was in 1977 ment going on, either. Frustrated, while at sonal satisfaction, I decided that, with a little while working on my first treatise-length book Zyvex I initiated (with Ralph Merkle) a system- more work, I could make the results available project, titled Xenology (www.xenology.info). In atic effort to achieve this development that has to others. This led to the publication of “The Section 16.4.1 of that book, I wrote about become known as the Nanofactory Technical Feasibility of Cryonics” in Medical using molecular electronic components to Collaboration. We began publishing paper after Hypotheses in 1992 and a more extensive version create a computer system having 10 billion paper in mainstream peer-reviewed technical titled “The Molecular Repair of the Brain” in “microneurons” in the space of few microns, journals, doing the hard work of sweating the Cryonics Magazine in 1994. “small enough to hide inside a bacterium”. details of atomically precise manufacturing to fill At this point, I found myself in the During my NASA work on self-replicating in the first steps leading toward nanofactory almost unique position of having carefully machines in the early 1980s, I’d wondered how design. Along the way we’ve published a book analyzed the feasibility of molecular nan- small machine replicators might be made, on replicative manufacturing systems otechnology. Aside from Richard Feynman, studied emerging micromachine technologies, (www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM.htm) Eric Drexler and perhaps a few others, almost and written about bloodstream-traveling sur- and performed a lot of useful research with no one had realized that this new technology gical robots in 1985 in a book edited by Minsky. many interesting collaborators around the world. was even possible, let alone that it would fun- But it wasn’t until 1994 that reading Drexler’s damentally change the world. Given the raw Nanosystems confirmed what I already suspected Merkle: I had a very different experience. I magnitude of the impact, and my fortuitous based on my own knowledge: namely, that the never thought about either life extension or cry- position in a cutting edge research institute technical case for molecular nanotechnology onics until I was in my 30’s and had completed charged with developing fundamentally new (MNT) was very solid. (I didn’t read Engines of my Ph.D., gotten married, bought a house, and technologies, I decided to pursue molecular Creation until later.) settled into a Silicon Valley start-up company. nanotechnology professionally. I expected It was clear that nanomedicine offered a As was my habit, I began thinking about my that others would realize, within a few years, chance for radical “healthspan” (healthy next steps and long-term plans. At first, I saw the magnitude of the opportunity and jump lifespan) extension. This was especially exciting smooth sailing for several decades. in. Engines of Creation by Drexler was very because it also appeared that this objective Then I would die. readable and entirely persuasive to someone might be achievable within the several decades While traditional, it was not clear that this with the right technical background, and the of life actuarially remaining to me and others of was either necessary or desirable. I began to famous Nobel Prize winning physicist my generation – but only if we moved quickly. review the relevant literature. Cryonics was Feynman had placed his stamp of approval

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2008 9 would be followed in molecular nanotech- nology. I began giving talks and writing papers Robert A. Freitas, Jr. that illustrated the basic concepts, provided Robert A. Freitas, Jr. is Senior Research Fellow at the worked examples of the kind of research that Institute for Molecular Manufacturing (IMM) in Palo Alto, was needed, and clarified points that seemed California, and was a Research Scientist at Zyvex Corp. to cause confusion. While there has been a (Richardson, Texas), the first molecular nanotechnology slow acceptance of the basic ideas, it has been company, during 2000-2004. He received B.S. degrees in much slower than I initially anticipated – per- Physics and Psychology from Harvey Mudd College in haps because molecular nanotechnology is 1974 and a J.D. from University of Santa Clara in 1979. based on the synthesis of ideas from several Freitas co-edited the 1980 NASA feasibility analysis of self- fields and the typical research scientist is only replicating space factories and in 1996 authored the first educated in one or two. To grasp the whole detailed technical design study of a medical nanorobot requires an understanding of ideas typically ever published in a peer-reviewed mainstream biomedical found scattered in different disciplines. journal. Freitas is the author of Nanomedicine, the first book-length technical discus- Unfortunately, rapid technical progress sion of the potential medical applications of molecular nanotechnology; the initial two requires research funding, which is largely volumes of this 4-volume series were published in 1999 and 2003 by Landes committee based. Even though there are now Bioscience. His research interests include: nanomedicine, medical nanorobotics quite a few strong supporters, a randomly design, molecular machine systems, diamondoid mechanosynthesis (theory and exper- selected committee of research scientists will imental pathways), molecular assemblers and nanofactories, atomically precise manu- typically have at least one or two members who facturing, and self-replication in machine and factory systems. He has produced 49 ref- ereed journal publications and contributed book chapters, two patents, co-authored roundly reject any attempt to pursue molecular Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines (Landes Bioscience, 2004), and in 2006 co- nanotechnology, thus blocking any funding. founded the Nanofactory Collaboration. His home page is at www.rfreitas.com. The alternative is to find individual deci- sion makers who can both understand the value of molecular nanotechnology and have the resources to back up their intuition with Ralph C. Merkle funding. Such people are often called “patrons,” “angel investors,” or just “wealthy,” Ralph C. Merkle received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1979 where he co-invented public key cryp- but whatever you call them the result is that tography. He joined Xerox PARC in 1988, where he pur- research can be funded without having to first sued research in security and computational nanotech- persuade 90% of the research community nology until 1999. He was a Nanotechnology Theorist at that it is a good idea. Zyvex until 2003, when he joined the Georgia Institute of Technology as a Professor of Computing until 2006. He is 2. Developing molecular nanotech- now a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular nology looks like a daunting task. Manufacturing. He chaired the Fourth and Fifth Foresight How are you going to approach this? Conferences on Nanotechnology. He was co-recipient of the 1998 Feynman Prize for Nanotechnology for theory, Our general approach is summarized at co-recipient of the ACM’s Kanellakis Award for Theory and Practice and the 2000 RSA the Nanofactory Collaboration website Award in Mathematics. Dr. Merkle has fourteen patents and has published extensively. (www.MolecularAssembler.com/Nanofactory). His home page is at www.merkle.com. First, we target the strongest known materials – fullerenes, diamond, and related ultrahard on the whole endeavor back in 1959 in I had seen this pattern before in public ceramics, collectively called diamondoid. “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” key cryptography. My first work in this area Second, we develop the engineering discipline Much to my amazement, molecular nan- was roundly rejected as “...not in keeping with known as positionally controlled otechnology was deemed controversial and its current cryptographic thinking.” It took a few mechanosynthesis – the fabrication of atomi- basic feasibility was attacked by many years before the research community realized cally precise structures using atomically pre- “respectable” scientists. That their arguments that public key cryptography was, indeed, a cise tools driven by mechanical forces to drive were technical gibberish coated with a thin major advance. This pattern is common in the chemistry. Third, we use this new fabrica- veneer of impressive-sounding words was science (and indeed, in all areas of human tion technology to build nanoscale molecular both a comfort (they obviously had found no endeavor): new ideas are initially rejected and machinery, such as bearings, gears, motors, holes in the argument) and a problem (they later accepted only slowly (see www.foresight.org/ pumps and robotic arms. Fourth, we develop succeeded in misdirecting both people and News/negativeComments.html). more complex nanoscale machinery that can research funds towards incremental and evo- I thought that, with a little patience and itself build machinery of the same general lutionary research). some clear explanations, the same pattern

10 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2008 www.alcor.org kind. Fifth, we scale up using massively par- not much greater than the cost of the We’re collaborating with an experimental allel assembly lines. required raw materials and energy). team led by Philip Moriarty, a leading U.K. scan- The result will be a working nanofactory. Almost all manufactured products will be ning probe microscopist at the University of The nanofactory is a proposed compact remarkably light, strong, smart and inexpen- Nottingham, who is attempting to fabricate and molecular manufacturing system, possibly sive. The manufacturing process itself will be test several of the mechanosynthetic tooltips small enough to sit on a desktop, that could pollution free. MNT will give us supercom- and processes we’ve analyzed theoretically. build a diverse selection of large-scale molec- puters that fit inside a living cell, solar power Now we need to mobilize the (larger) ularly precise diamondoid products. The perhaps 100 times cheaper than today’s elec- resources needed to develop atomically pre- nanofactory is potentially a high quality, tricity (eliminating the need for polluting coal, cise fabrication, molecular manufacturing, extremely low cost, and very flexible manu- oil and nuclear energy plants), reliable and and nanofactories. Once we get the facturing system. effective medical nanodevices, and more. resources, we’re ready to go. More succinctly: molecular nanotech- 3. What are the benefits of molecular nology will make us all healthy and rich (at 5. If someone wants to accelerate the manufacturing? least in a material sense). development of MNT, what should they do? Molecular manufacturing will continue 4. What needs to be done to speed three great multi-decade and even multi- progress? Contact us. We have a plan. century trends in manufacturing: greater There are times when a small group, precision, greater flexibility, and lower Theory, experiment, planning, resources, funded by a visionary patron, can change the manufacturing cost. Molecular manufac- and action. world for the better. DARPA and the turing will give us the ultimate in precision With dozens of collaborators at 11 insti- internet. Nobel and his Prize. Kennedy and (essentially every atom in the right place), tutions in 4 countries, over the last 10 years the moon landing. Queen Isabella and the ultimate in flexibility (the ability to we’ve laid the foundations for molecular man- Columbus. arrange atoms in almost any specified pat- ufacturing development with a series of theo- Who will be remembered for molecular tern consistent with physical law), and the retical papers and planning documents ana- manufacturing? ultimate in low cost (manufacturing costs lyzing all the basics. Perhaps you? Or someone you know? I Take a look at the ALCOR BLOG www.alcornews.org/weblog

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