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Cryonics is the low-temperature freezing and storage of human remains in the hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticism by the mainstream scientific community. It is generally viewed as a pseudoscience, and its practice has been characterized as quackery.
Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science. The word cryobiology is derived from the Greek words κρῧος [kryos], "cold", βίος [bios], "life", and λόγος [logos], "word". In practice, cryobiology is the study of biological material or systems at temperatures below normal. Materials or systems studied may include proteins, cells, tissues, organs, or whole organisms. Temperatures may range from moderately hypothermic conditions to cryogenic temperatures.
Vitrification is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non-crystalline or amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses possess a higher degree of connectivity with the same Hausdorff dimensionality of bonds as crystals: dimH = 3. In the production of ceramics, vitrification is responsible for their impermeability to water.
The Alcor Life Extension Foundation, most often referred to as Alcor, is an American nonprofit, federally tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization based in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Alcor advocates for, researches, and performs cryonics, the freezing of human corpses and brains in liquid nitrogen after legal death, with hopes of resurrecting and restoring them to full health if the technology to do so becomes available in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticism within the scientific community and has been characterized as quackery and pseudoscience.
21st Century Medicine (21CM) is a California cryobiological research company which has as its primary focus the development of perfusates and protocols for viable long-term cryopreservation of human organs, tissues and cells at temperatures below −100 °C through the use of vitrification. 21CM was founded in 1993.
A cryoprotectant is a substance used to protect biological tissue from freezing damage. Arctic and Antarctic insects, fish and amphibians create cryoprotectants in their bodies to minimize freezing damage during cold winter periods. Cryoprotectants are also used to preserve living materials in the study of biology and to preserve food products.
James Hiram Bedford was an American psychology professor at the University of California who wrote several books on occupational counseling. He is the first person whose body was cryopreserved after legal death, and remains preserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.
Michael G. Darwin, formerly known as Michael Federowicz, is a former president of cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation. He was president from 1983 to 1988, and research director until 1992. He was also the founder and president of BioPreservation, Inc., and a cofounder, member of the board of directors, and director of research at Twenty-First Century Medicine from 1993 to 1999.
Articles related specifically to biomedical engineering include:
Thomas K. Donaldson was a mathematician and well-known cryonics advocate. He was born in the state of Kentucky in the United States, and took his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1969. He also lived in Sunnyvale, California, and for many years in Canberra, Australia, where he taught mathematics at Australian National University. He founded both the Cryonics Association of Australia and the Institute for Neural Cryobiology, which has funded ground-breaking research in cryopreservation of brain tissue.
Gregory Michael Fahy is a California-based cryobiologist, biogerontologist, and businessman. He is Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Twenty-First Century Medicine, Inc, and has co-founded Intervene Immune, a company developing clinical methods to reverse immune system aging. He is the 2022–2023 president of the Society for Cryobiology.
KrioRus is the first cryonics company in Russia. It was founded in 2005 by the Russian Transhumanist Movement NGO. It is the only cryonic company in Europe to possess an own cryonic storage. The company offers the services of freezing the entire bodies or heads of clients in liquid nitrogen with a plan to revive them if such a technology is developed, but takes no legal obligations to do so.
Oocyte cryopreservation is a procedure to preserve a woman's eggs (oocytes). This technique is often used to delay pregnancy. When pregnancy is desired, the eggs can be thawed, fertilized, and transferred to the uterus as embryos. Several studies have shown that most infertility problems are due to germ cell deterioration related to aging. The procedure's success rate varies depending on the woman's age, health, and genetic factors. The first human birth of oocyte cryopreservation was reported in 1986.
Cryopreservation or cryoconservation is a process where biological material - cells, tissues, or organs - are frozen to preserve the material for an extended period of time. At low temperatures any cell metabolism which might cause damage to the biological material in question is effectively stopped. Cryopreservation is an effective way to transport biological samples over long distances, store samples for prolonged periods of time, and create a bank of samples for users. Molecules, referred to as cryoprotective agents (CPAs), are added to reduce the osmotic shock and physical stresses cells undergo in the freezing process. Some cryoprotective agents used in research are inspired by plants and animals in nature that have unique cold tolerance to survive harsh winters, including: trees, wood frogs, and tardigrades. The first human corpse to be frozen with the hope of future resurrection was James Bedford's, a few hours after his cancer-caused death in 1967.[15] Bedford's is the only cryonics corpse frozen before 1974 still frozen today.
Semen cryopreservation is a procedure to preserve sperm cells. Semen can be used successfully indefinitely after cryopreservation. It can be used for sperm donation where the recipient wants the treatment in a different time or place, or as a means of preserving fertility for men undergoing vasectomy or treatments that may compromise their fertility, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery. It is also often used by trans women prior to medically transitioning in ways that affect fertility, such as feminizing hormone therapy and orchiectomies.
A viability assay is an assay that is created to determine the ability of organs, cells or tissues to maintain or recover a state of survival. Viability can be distinguished from the all-or-nothing states of life and death by the use of a quantifiable index that ranges between the integers of 0 and 1 or, if more easily understood, the range of 0% and 100%. Viability can be observed through the physical properties of cells, tissues, and organs. Some of these include mechanical activity, motility, such as with spermatozoa and granulocytes, the contraction of muscle tissue or cells, mitotic activity in cellular functions, and more. Viability assays provide a more precise basis for measurement of an organism's level of vitality.
Cryoconservation of animal genetic resources is a strategy wherein samples of animal genetic materials are preserved cryogenically.
The Brain Preservation Foundation is an American non-profit organization with the goal of promoting validated scientific research and technical services development in the field of whole brain preservation for long-term static storage, as well as working on the accessibility, affordability, and sustainability of this technology. It also provides public education on topics such as the neural foundations of memory, brain scanning techniques, brain preservation, and mind uploading.
Cryopreservation of testicular tissue is an experimental method being used to preserve fertility in pre-pubescent males, or males who cannot produce sperm, to allow them the option of having biological children.
The Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute, is a life science research institute and a cryonics services provider in Jinan, Shandong, China. It was founded in 2015, and it is a division of Yinfeng Biological Group. The institute is the first organization providing cryonics services in China. In 2017, the institute stored the first cryopreserved corpse in China. The institute cryopreserves cells, tissues, human bodies, and animals, including dogs. The institute cooperates closely with the Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Foundation that funds the institute.
References
- ↑ McIntyre RL, Fahy GM (December 2015). "Aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation". Cryobiology. 71 (3): 448–458. doi: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2015.09.003 . PMID 26408851.
- ↑ Claire Maldarelli (9 February 2016). "Researchers Have Preserved an Entire Rabbit Brain". Popular Science . Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ↑ Michael Shermer (1 February 2016). "Can Our Minds Live Forever?". Scientific American . Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ↑ "21st Century Medicine's Aldehyde-Stabilized Cryopreservation". Brain Preservation Foundation. 16 September 2015.
- ↑ "Aldehyde-Stabilized Cryopreservation Wins Final Phase of Brain Preservation Prize". PRWeb.
- ↑ Ekpo, Marlene Davis; Boafo, George Frimpong; Gambo, Suleiman Shafiu; Hu, Yuying; Liu, Xiangjian; Xie, Jingxian; Tan, Songwen (2022-06-09). "Cryopreservation of Animals and Cryonics: Current Technical Progress, Difficulties and Possible Research Directions". Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 9. Frontiers: 877163. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.877163 . PMC 9219731 . PMID 35754544.
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