Lifeboat Foundation

Cell freezing (cryopreservation)—which is essential in cell transfusions as well as basic biomedical research—can be dramatically improved using a new polymeric cryoprotectant, discovered at the University of Warwick, which reduces the amount of ‘anti-freeze’ needed to protect cells.

The ability to freeze and store cells for cell-based therapies and research has taken a step forward in the paper “A synthetically scalable poly(ampholyte) which dramatically Enhances Cellular Cryopreservation.” published by the University of Warwick’s Department of Chemistry and Medical School in the journal Biomacromolecules. The new polymer material protects the cells during freezing, leading to more cells being recovered and less solvent-based antifreeze being required.

Cryopreservation of cells is an essential process, enabling banking and distribution of cells, which would otherwise degrade. The current methods rely on adding traditional ‘antifreezes’ to the cells to protect them from the cold stress, but not all the cells are recovered and it is desirable to lower the amount of solvent added.

The field of cryonics — freezing the body after death to be revived in the future — is advancing with new technology and research. Now, the leading players in cryonics are gathering in South Florida to build interest and share new developments.

Are you Cryo-Curious? Learn about the real facts of cryonics at the first Cryonics Symposium International.

The mission of Cryonics Symposium International is to bring leaders in the cryonics community together to learn from each other and promote the emerging science of cryonics.

With master-of-ceremonies Rudi Hoffman, the first time ever assembly of luminaries from different cryonics organizations will be presenting on the concepts behind the science and research of cryonics at the Church of Perpetual Life in Hollywood, Florida on Saturday, July 27th from 10 AM — 5 PM. The Church is located at 1855 McKinley St, Hollywood, FL 33021. This historic event is free-of-charge: donations are graciously accepted. Attendees will enjoy complimentary meals for the duration of the event. Seats are limited. RSVP is required via Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cryonics-symposium-internationa…———-

Give death the cold shoulder.

An excellent interview. Fossel and Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Foundation are in disagreement about telomerase.

https://www.singularityweblog.com/michael-fossel/ ‎

Continue reading “Dr. Michael Fossel: Compassion is the reason to reverse aging!” »

The cryonics debate explained, plus new issues in waking the dead. Would cryonics customers even be welcomed in the future?

To me cryonics just makes sense. It may not be pretty but, just like open heart surgery, it is one of those things that, without any guarantees, can possibly extend your life [very] substantially. Thus, especially given the alternative, I just can’t quite make sense of the slow rate of adoption evident not only in North America but also across the world. And so I am always happy to discover new books that lay out the scientific argument for cryonics while making it easily digestible and giving it a very personal, human perspective. Since the most recent book, I thoroughly enjoyed on this topic was Frozen to Life: A Personal Mortality Experiment I thought that D.J. MacLennan will make an excellent guest on my podcast. I was not wrong about that.

During our 1 hour conversation with D.j. MacLennan we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why he decided to write Frozen to Life and who is it for; cryonics as a glass-state time travel; why he chose neuro- rather than full-body preservation; the costs and rate of adoption of cryonics; the culture, conservatism and geography of his home on the Isle of Skye; transhumanism and transcending limitations; the differences between Max More and James Hughes; his fear of death; the promise of chemical brain preservation; mindfulness and meditation; writing a transhumanist take on The Wizard of Oz and potentially on Grim’s Fairy Tales…

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.