It’s funny how these things go. There I was at the
TransVision 2007 celebrity reception last Thursday, drinking white wine, munching on
hors d’oeuvres and eagerly awaiting the arrival of William Shatner. I was looking forward to a once in a lifetime opportunity.
And then I realized that I was in the company of
Tanya Jones, chief operating officer for
Alcor.
I had never met Tanya before and I have yet to visit their facility in
Arizona. I was very impressed with her TV07 presentation from earlier
in the week and I was bursting with questions.
So, as we were waiting for Shatner to arrive, we began to chat.
To freeze and protect
During
her talk two days prior, Tanya gave conference attendees the rundown on
some of Alcor's more recent work and initiatives. It was a fascinating
glimpse into the world of cryonics and what it takes to run a company
on the technological and social fringe.
She noted how Alcor teams can be rushed to the bedside of dying patients as they ready for the suffusion of
cryoprotectants in
preparation for freezing. Without this highly engineered liquid,
preservation would be completely disastrous with each cell suffering a
host of problems, including ice crystallization and the eventual threat
of it losing all its physical integrity upon reanimation. The
cryoprotectant gel, which replaces the blood after death, essentially
converts the body into a glass-like state upon contact with liquid
nitrogen. The body’s informational state is thus retained at the
highest level currently possible.
Consequently, getting the
patient into cold storage quickly is paramount. As Tanya noted during
her presentation, “time is trauma.” During the cocktail reception I
asked her how long would be too long. She replied that any kind of
delay is detrimental, but that after 24 hours the real serious and
irrevocable damage starts to occur, namely cellular degradation and
host of other neural problems as the brain begins to lose its cohesion
and organization.
I asked her if Alcor has a policy for refusing
the receipt of severely damaged corpses, say a body that had been
terribly damaged by autopsy or by a motor vehicle accident. She
answered that in such cases, where
information theoretic death
is all but assured, it is not up to Alcor but rather the predetermined
wishes of the deceased. When an individual signs up with Alcor they
specify the various extremes to which they will still agree to be
cryonically preserved. Alcor unquestioningly adheres to the wishes of
the patient.
Tanya also described the freezing process which is
done under strictly controlled conditions. The body is slowly brought
down to the optimally low temperature and is carefully monitored for
fracturing. Quite frustratingly, every preservation that has ever been
conducted at Alcor has suffered from fracturing of some sort. Tanya
described the sound as ice-cubes popping in a drink.
I squirmed
in my seat listening to this description, wondering how our high tech
descendants will repair this sort of “information theoretic” brain
damage.
Honesty, integrity, credibility
I
was impressed with Tanya’s honesty and I told her so. By being open
about current limitations, they come across as being less interested in
the “sell” aspect and more concerned with creating a credible and
legitimate industry. Along these lines I asked Tanya about regulation
and whether or not she believes there will ever be such a thing as a
monitored cryonics industry.
Not only did Tanya whole heartedly
agree, she is convinced that it is inevitable and that a big battle is
looming. “But Alcor,” claimed Tanya, “is ready.” She quickly outlined
her plans and strategy for what she thinks will be a long and drawn out
struggle to get the kind of regulation in place that would be to the
benefit of Alcor and the burgeoning industry of cryonics – a battle
that she believes will come sooner rather than later. As it currently
stands, Alcor is 'regulated' under the
Anatomical Gift Act,
which makes Alcor a kind of glorified research lab and organ storage
facility. Which I suppose is better than being acknowledged as a
funeral parlor.
It’s this lack of recognition and backwards thinking that has arguably landed Alcor in trouble. The scandalous
Ted Williams affair,
which Tanya claims is finally all over and done with (including cash in
hand), is an example of how a new and unrecognized industry can face
undue challenges and public scrutiny. More formal and cogent regulation
will not only give Alcor needed credibility as they work to create a
viable business, it will also result in a safer and more effective
industry.
From grave to cradleInterestingly,
while Alcor is primarily concerned with preservation, they are also
looking ahead to a time when reanimation will finally become possible.
They project themselves as being an all-in-one facility. Today they
freeze bodies; tomorrow they hope to be the company that brings the
dead back to life.
To this end they are creating a research lab
in which rats will be cryonically preserved and experimented upon. This
approach makes perfect sense. It will allow them to not just look
ahead, but to gauge the effectiveness of current preservation
procedures and technologies.
Jokingly, I complained to Tanya
about their use of rats. “The thought of a little cryonics lab filled
with frozen rats in tiny dewars is unsettling," I said, "Who wants to
see a reanimated rat running around? Why couldn’t you guys have used
cute little bunny rabbits instead – it would be much better PR to see a
bunch of revived bunny rabbits hopping around.” Tanya laughed and noted
how animal experimentation will in fact escalate and eventually come to
involve more complex organisms such as pigs.
Cool company
I
have yet to sign up for cryonics. My reasons are, admittedly, personal,
complicated and even non-nonsensical. There may come a day, however,
when I've reconciled my broader existential outlook with the prospect
of cryonics.
Until then, however, I will laud the efforts of
Alcor and continue to advocate for the right to a long life. They are
certainly blazing a fascinating trail into the future.
Oh, and I
totally missed the opportunity to meet William Shatner. I barely even
noticed that he was in the room when I was chatting with Tanya.
Now why do you suppose I have absolutely no regrets about that?