Cryonics Essay Research Paper As we enter free essay sample

Cryonicss Essay, Research Paper As we enter a new millenary we are besides doing huge technological betterments. In the field of medical specialty in peculiar, there is cause for great optimism. There has neer been more power to reconstruct, keep and widen wellness. However there is something even bigger approaching, cryonics. Many people think of cryonics as some futuristic, science fiction procedure that would merely be possible in the films. However the thought of cryonics isn t truly that unreal. There are many groups and scientists working on cryonics and this astonishing procedure could go possible in the close hereafter. Cryonicss is a procedure that involves stop deading a patient and keeping them in a suspended province. During this province no cellular operation or cellular decay is present. Patients are put into this province when their organic structures become damaged through hurts, aging, or disease. Scientists are explicating a procedure to take the patients from this province when remedies for their damaged organic structures have been found. At the present clip many people have been put into a cryogenically frozen province but none have been revived from this province ( Rhoades ) . The first process for cryonic freeze was proposed in 1962 by Robert Ettinger a professor of natural philosophies at Highland Park College in Michigan. He came up with the thought of utilizing liquid N to stop dead patients in the hopes that one twenty-four hours it would be possible to reconstruct them and mend what was incorrect with them. This was the beginning of the cryonics motion. A current popular method is the arrested development and vitrafication method. Biologists bind tissue utilizing a glutaraldehyde solution. The glutaraldehyde molecule bouncinesss around inside the cell until in connects with a protein. Then another protein connects with the other side of the glutaraldehyde molecule. This procedure preserves cells and the constructions within them. The following measure is that the H2O in the cells is replaced by chemicals, such as propene ethanediol, ethylene ethanediol and dimethyl sulfoxide. These substances don t freezing like H2O does. In a procedure known as vitr ification these chemicals protect cells from freeze harm in much the same manner antifreeze protects an car engine from harm by stop deading H2O. If adequate of the cells H2O is replaced so chilling doesn T cause freeze, it merely causes the protectant solution to go more and more syrupy, traveling from a liquid that resembles thin sirup in its consistence to one that resembles hot pitch, to one that resembles cold pitch, to one as resistant to flux as a glass ( Drexler, 1986 ) . Although no grownup human being has of all time been revived from the province of cryogenic freeze, many scientists believe that non merely is it possible but it will be done in the close hereafter. They base their beliefs on up and coming surveies on nanotechnology. The agricultural revolution took centuries. The industrial revolution took decennaries. Molecular nanotechnology will alter human civilisation more than the agricultural or industrial revolution. The revolution of molecular nanotechnology, though, will merely take a few months # 8212 ; or, at most, a few old ages ( Emanuelson, 1991-1999 ) . What is nanotechnology? Nanotechnology is a scientific survey designed around the thought that every construction consistent with the Torahs of chemical science and natural philosophies can be built. Nobel Prize victor in natural philosophies Richard Feynman said, The rules of natural philosophies, every bit far as I can see, make non talk against the possibility of steering things atom by atom. Many believe that within 10 old ages scientists will hold probably learned how to patch together atoms and molecules on at a clip utilizing a Scaning Tunneling Microscope. The molecular machinery in our organic structures maintains our lives by managing m olecules at the molecular degree. A molecular machine is a big molecule that manipulates other molecules, one at a clip. Every clip we eat we are seting random molecules into our organic structures ; but these molecules are useless if our organic structures could non screen through them, form them and transport them to the portion of the organic structure where they are needed in the right manner. We are besides seting molecules in our organic structure when we take medical specialty. Once once more we depend on our organic structures to screen, and transport them. When we take a medical specialty, all we can make with today # 8217 ; s engineering is to shoot it into our blood stream or get down it, and hope that the organic structure will transport and utilize the substances decently. During surgery, even the most precise microsurgery, the sawbones # 8217 ; s scalpel pieces through 1000s of cells # 8212 ; traveling millions of molecules out of their proper places. From the cells point of position surgery is non delicate at all, but really rough and damaging. The molecular machinery of the organic structure has to mend all these cells after the sawbones is complete ( Emanuelson, 1991-1999 ) . Imagine if worlds could command all of these molecular procedures. This is what nanothechnology is all approximately. If we could develop bantam micro machines that continuously and expeditiously maintain the molecules of our organic structures, helping the natural molecular machinery in our organic structures, we would neer acquire ill. These machines would besides free the organic structure of foreign molecules such as viruses and bacteriums. Our organic structure s immune system is slow but if we could endorse it up with supports we could assist it contend off these enemies. If our natural antibodies were augmented by unreal antibodies made of carbon-fiber complexs and guided by virus-sized computing machines more powerful than today # 8217 ; s supercomputers, no interloper would hold a opportunity of infecting us. ( Emanuelson, 1991-1999 ) . Some scientists believe that within the following 30 old ages aging harm and all natural causes of decease can be eliminated. This can be d one by doing unreal molecular machines that continuously look into our cells for harm, and our Deoxyribonucleic acid for mutants, and do the proper fixs. The cell fix machines of molecular nanotechnology will non merely forestall the natural causes of decease, but most decease by injury every bit good. Artificial molecular machines can execute fixs far faster than the natural healing procedure. If an hurt is so terrible that it overwhelms the unreal healing procedure, the molecular machines can put the organic structure into biostasis, holding all farther harm until more aid arrives ( Emanuelson, 1991-1999 ) . There are many more signifiers of life other than worlds. Imagine the agricultural possibilities. An apple tree contains intricate molecular machinery that rearranges the molecules in soil, H2O and air into an apple. Artificial molecular machines developed in the following few decennaries will be able to make the same thing an apple tree does, but much more expeditiously. Some scientist envision a tabletop machine in which they can pour some soil and H2O into and teach the machine to do whatever fruit or vegetable they select. The finished merchandise will be available, to the full ripened, within the hr. Imagine the possibilities for fertilisers and pest control. You could hold the perfect pace without spraying on chemicals. The nanotechnology revolution could get within the following 15 old ages. With the usage of nanotechnology a frozen cryonics patient would easy be able to hold their cells repaired from cryopathy. Whatever disease the patient was afflicted with could besides be cured ( Emanuelson, 1991-1999 ) . Many animate beings have already been put through a procedure really similar to being cryogenically frozen. For illustration in 1992, BioTime Inc. successfully revived a baboon. BioTime replaced the baboon s blood with their blood-substitute solution, so the baboon s deep organic structure temperature was lowered to near stop deading. The animate being was anesthetized, immersed in ice and cooled to below 2 grades Celsius, utilizing the BioTime solution with cardiorespiratory beltway processs. After being bloodless and below 10 grades Centigrade for 55 proceedingss, the animate being was re-warmed and revived. BioTime still plans to make more experimentation on Primatess and their blood-substitute solution. The baboon is still being studied in order to if there are any long-run physical side effects ( Freeman, 1998 ) . Many people have kept Canis familiariss cold for hours so brought them back to life. The first cryonics organisation to make so was Alcor, in the mid 1980 # 8217 ; s. A German Shepherd Canis familiaris named Dixie under went a cryogenic experiment in which all its blood was drained out and replaced with a man-made solution. The Canis familiaris was so cooled to 4 grades Celsius. The German Shepherd s critical marks signaled that the Canis familiaris was dead. It was cold and stiff, eyes flattened out, the bosom did non crush, and the encephalon moving ridges had stopped. The Canis familiaris stayed in this province for four hours. The German Shepard s blood was so put back into its organic structure. They warmed it up and restored it to life. Alcor performed several fluctuations of this experiment with different blood replacements and temperatures. Gerry Arthus, Alcor New York # 8217 ; s Coordinator, has performed an experiment utilizing roundworms ( bantam worms ) , which shows that memories will last cryonic suspension. In this experiment Gerry used Caenorhabditis elegans, a roundworm, which is one of the simplest life animals. It has a compl ete nervous system, nevertheless, and can be trained in a fundamental manner. Worms that are raised in a warm environment will take a warm environment over a cold environment subsequently on in their life. Likewise, worms that were raised in a ice chest environment will take a cold environment over a warm environment. Gerry placed a little figure of worms in a cryoprotective solution and stop dead them to -80 grades Celsius for two hours. After the worms were revived from their frozen province they remember the environment that they preferred before the cryogenic freeze. This is the universe # 8217 ; s first experiment that verifies that memory is chemically encoded and will last the freeze procedure. The sample that Gerry used is excessively little to turn out anything once and for all. Gerry plans to reiterate the experiment with a big sample of Caenorhabditis elegans. He besides intends to invent trials to extinguish the possibility that the worms changed physiologically to acco mmodate themselves to warmer or cooler environments. I. Suda and A.C. Kito reported an experiment in which cat encephalons produced normal looking encephalon moving ridges after being frozen. The cat encephalons were perused with 15 % glycerin and cooled to -20 C for five yearss. Then the cat encephalons were warmed up and the glycerin was replaced with normal blood. The cat brains showed normal encephalon map when they were measured with an EEG. The engineering has improved well since this experiment was performed so better consequences could likely be achieved utilizing modern twenty-four hours equipment, if it was repeated. There are have besides been many experiments in which worlds or human embryos have been put through state of affairss similar to those involved in cryonics. The first human being to successfully emerge from cryonic suspension is John Brooks. He was removed from his female parent # 8217 ; s uterus and suspended in liquid N for two months. After he was thawed out, he was placed in his female parent # 8217 ; s uterus once more, and was born 11 months after being conceived. Thousands of embryos have been successfully frozen since so. There was a instance in which a human embryo was frozen at liquid N temperature for seven old ages, and so brought to term, and is now a healthy immature kid. The procedure of resuscitating a cryogenically frozen grownup homo is really similar to that of an embryo, in rule ( Ettinger, 1998 ) . There have besides been instances where worlds have survived inadvertent freeze. One recent instance of involvement involved a immature yearling in Edmonton. She had wondered out of the house, dressed in merely a nappy, into temperatures of negative 24 grades Celsius. The 13-month-old yearling was outside for several hours before she was found and brought to the infirmary, where she was found to hold no critical marks. To the astonishment of her physicians she recovered with no evident harm. This kid was able to retrieve from being frozen solid, ( in the words of a police officer on the scene ) ( Herald Sun, 2001 ) . Many people believe that cryonic suspension is merely for the rich. However there are now ways that allow a big bulk of people to afford cryonics suspension. The mean cost is about $ 75,000 which can be paid utilizing a $ 200 a twelvemonth life insurance policy, plus an add-on $ 300 a twelvemonth for cryonic foremost aid service. Cryonics Institute offers the cheapest services for $ 28,000, which can be paid with a $ 100 per twelvemonth life insurance policy ( Kluytmans, 1997 ) . The four chief suppliers of cryonic suspension are Alcor Life Extension Foundation, CryoCare Foundation, Cryonics Institute, and American Cryonics Society. Aging, unwellness, and decease, three of world s primary beginnings of hurting and sorrow, may be all but eradicated. What we will make when that happens and how it will alter us stay to be seen. Surely, the more prepared and anticipant we are, the better we can anticipate things to travel ( Rodriguez, 2001 ) .