2nd Quarter 2011 • Volume 32:2 The Brain Preservation Technology Prize page 5 Aubrey de Grey responds to Ben Best page 12 Member Dendrites traced through a series of electron PRofile: micrographs of a chemically fixed and plastic Hugh Hixon embedded piece of brain tissue. page 14 ISSN 1054-4305 $9.95 Improve Your Odds of a Good Cryopreservation You have your cryonics funding and contracts in place but have you considered other steps you can take to prevent problems down the road? þ Keep Alcor up-to-date about personal and medical changes. þ Update your Alcor paperwork to reflect your current wishes. þ Execute a cryonics-friendly Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. þ Wear your bracelet and talk to your friends and family about your desire to be cryopreserved. þ Ask your relatives to sign Affidavits stating that they will not interfere with your cryopreservation. þ Attend local cryonics meetings or start a local group yourself. þ Contribute to Alcor’s operations and research. Contact Alcor (1-877-462-5267) and let us know how we can assist you. Your source for news about: Take a look at the • Cryonics technology ALCOR BLOG • Cryopreservation cases • Television programs about cryonics http://www.alcor.org/blog/ • Speaking events and meetings • Employment opportunities Connect with Alcor members and supporters Alcor Life on our official Facebook page: Extension http://www.facebook.com/alcor.life.extension.foundation Foundation is on Become a fan and encourage interested friends, family members, and colleagues to support us too. ND 2 Q UARTER 2 011 • V OLUME 3 2:2 e 32:2 Volum 2011 • arter 2nd Qu rain The B atio n eserv Pr logy chno Te rize P 5 COVpEageR STORY: PAGE 5 Alcor member Ken Hayworth intro - Contents duces the reader to the Brain Grey Preeys edervatio n Foundation and the Aubr ds to espon st r en Be prizeB they 12have established to page encourage state of the art preserva - 3 CEO Update er tion oMfe tmhbe brain. The aim of this Alcor CEO Max More on e: Ro fil P n Hixo what’s happening at Alcor prize uigs hto a1n4 swer the question H page lectron ies of e h a ser lastic throug d and p whether cryonics or any other and the outlook that traced lly fixe drites emica sue. Den of a ch rain tis graphs ce of b micro ded pie embed preservation method preserves the informs his job. 05 precise pattern of synaptic connec - 054-43 ISSN 1 tivity in the brain. The author 10 Some Thoughts on Ken expects that an affirmative answer $9.95 Hayworth’s Proposal will produce greater acceptance of cryonics among scientists. Mike 11 Membership Statistics Perry responds and clarifies the position of the Editorial Board of Alcor membership is still the magazine. growing, albeit at a slower pace. 17 2011 2nd Quarter 12 Aubrey de Grey responds to Ben Best Readiness Update In the previous issue Cryonics Institute President Ben Best What is going on in the argued that some objectives of SENS cannot be considered area of readiness and forms of damage repair and that SENS neglects DNA damage training? as one of the most important causes of aging. In this issue you can read Aubrey’s extensive response. 18 Book Review: Global Catastrophic Risks Mike Perry reviews an 14 Member Profile: Hugh Hixon ambitious collection of Hugh Hixon is the longest serving cryonics staff member in articles that is highly cryonics and an inexhaustible resource for all things technical relevant to all Alcor in cryonics. Chana de Wolf was able to interview Hugh for this members. extensive member profile of Alcor’s Research Fellow. www.alcor.org Cryonics/Second Quarter 2011 1 FROM THE EDITOR Editorial Board Saul Kent uman cryopreservation is the most mature technology to preserve identity-critical Ralph Merkle, Ph.D. information in the brain but it is not the only feasible form of preservation. Brain Brian Wowk, Ph.D. structure can be preserved either through the use of cold temperatures or through the use of chemical fixation (or a combination of both). Although cryonics seems to have a Editor H number of distinct advantages over chemopreservation, such as its suitability for both non- Aschwin de Wolf ischemic and ischemic patients (see my article in Cryonics 4th Quarter 2009), one could argue that some of these advantages are simply the result of the fact that much more money Art Director and effort has been allocated to cryonics, as opposed to chemical preservation of the brain. Jill Grasse What both approaches have in common is a reluctance to accept contemporary criteria con - cerning death. It is for this reason alone that advocates of cryonics have good reasons to be Contributing Writers Aaron Drake supportive of serious efforts in chemical brain preservation. Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D The cover article of this issue of Cryonics features a profile of the Brain Preservation Kenneth J. Hayworth, Ph.D Foundation written by Alcor member Ken Hayworth. Although Ken is somewhat partial to Max More, Ph.D the use of chemical fixation as a means of brain preservation, the non-profit foundation that Mike Perry, Ph.D. he and others have launched to promote brain preservation considers both approaches as Aschwin de Wolf serious candidates to preserve critical identity of the person. In his article for this magazine Chana de Wolf he will discuss the objectives of the organization, its relevance to cryonics, and the Brain ________________________________ Preservation Technology Prize that has been established to encourage researchers to perfect technologies that demonstrate detailed preservation of every neuronal process and every Copyright 2011 synaptic connection, as demonstrated by advanced electron microscopy technologies. Ken’s by Alcor Life Extension Foundation article is followed by a comment from Mike Perry who outlines where Alcor agrees and All rights reserved. disagrees with Ken’s perspective. Reproduction, in whole or part, The reader will have to wait for the next issue for a number of exciting updates on without permission is prohibited. research and development in cryonics but this issue has solid technical content too. In addition to the article about the Brain Preservation Technology Prize, we are honored to Cryonics Magazine is published quarterly. publish Aubrey de Grey’s response to Ben Best’s critical assessment of SENS in our previous issue. I am very pleased to offer this exchange to our readers because the development of To subscribe to the paper edition: mature rejuvenation technologies is one of the conditions for cryonics to be meaningful for call 480.905.1906 x101 older people. Expect more focus on aging and rejuvenation in future issues of this magazine. or visit the magazine website: Following my desire to feature more staff members and board members in the http://www.alcor.org/magazine/ magazine, in this issue you can read an extensive member profile of Hugh Hixon. Hugh ________________________________ Hixon’s official title is Research Fellow but it is hard to imagine any (technical) aspect of Address correspondence to: cryonics that Hugh Hixon has not mastered. In particular, Hugh is the central person in the Cryonics Magazine Alcor operating room to conduct and monitor cryoprotective perfusion. Hugh’s knowledge 7895 East Acoma Drive, Suite 110 and expertise in this area is of such importance that Alcor has increasingly recognized the Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 urgent need to recruit and train more individuals to perform this crucial task. There are few Phone: 480.905.1906 people of whom it can be said that they have dedicated their life to cryonics and Hugh Hixon Toll free: 877.462.5267 is one of them. I strongly encourage you to read the profile of this remarkable and gifted Fax: 480.922.9027 individual. Due to space limitations and increased caseload, Alcor cannot publish all of its case Letters to the Editor welcome: reports in the magazine. I would like to draw your attention to the recent David Hayes case [email protected] report (http://www.alcor.org/Library/pdfs/casereportA1712DavidHayes.pdf). David Hayes has participated in a number of Alcor cases himself and was my colleague at Advertising inquiries: Suspended Animation, Inc. As this report will show, Dave was not able to benefit from the 480.905.1906 x113 very stabilization technologies that he was so familiar with. An inevitable autopsy and the [email protected] holidays conspired to produce extensive delays which did not permit cryoprotective perfusion. Due to the legal efforts of Alcor, we were able to protect his brain from further ISSN: 1054-4305 injury. Mike Perry has written a short addendum about what members can do to minimize the risk of an (invasive) autopsy. If one needs only one reminder why we need to fight for Visit us on the web at www.alcor.org improved legal status of cryonics patients, read this case report. Alcor News Blog Aschwin de Wolf http://www.alcor.org/blog/ 2 Cryonics/Second Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org CEO Update By Max More or the dullest among us, perfection be perfect, but we know that gains come at a new technology or productive method may take the form of a simple vision: cost. We would like the costs of membership unless you can prove that it is perfectly safe. perhaps an other-worldly realm where dues and cryopreservation charges to be This principle – unlike my alternative Fthere is no struggle, no suffering, no lower. We would like the quality of cryo - Proactionary Principle – turns a blind eye to conflict, only immaculate submission to a preservations to be higher.