Biostasis Newsletter June 2024
Tomorrow Bio Membership Dues Increase, Southern Cryonics' First Case and Setting the Record Straight on Neural Cryobiology
We are excited to publish a new edition of our Biostasis Monthly Newsletter! To be more flexible on publication schedule, our newsletter will now appear when we feel we have enough materials and announcement for publication, which can be less than monthly, but sometimes several times per month as well, depending on what is going on in our community.
June 21: Biostasis Technologies Symposium in New York City
On Saturday, June 22 Biostasis Technologies will be hosting a daylong symposium about "Current Developments in Cryonics" at the Arlo Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.
Speakers include Max More, Aschwin de Wolf, Charles Platt, and Emil Kendziorra, with more to be announced. We will be talking about emerging technological developments in cryonics (whole-body field cryoprotection, liquid ventilation etc.), local NYC response capabilities, new cryonics organizations in the US, and new outreach initiatives. This is also a great opportunity to meet fellow cryonicists from all organizations.
Please join us for complimentary breakfast at 09:00 am, followed by morning sessions, lunch, afternoon sessions, dinner, and drinks at one of the most spectacular venues in NYC.
This event is almost at capacity so please register here now:
Tomorrow Bio Membership Dues Increase
On June 15, the cryonics organization Tomorrow Bio will be changing its monthly dues from 25 euros per month to 50 euros per month. Existing members will continue to pay the older amount and new members can lock in those rates if they start the sign-up process before June 15. Given Tomorrow Bio’s imminent expansion into the United States, aspiring members in this country can reach out to Tomorrow Bio to lock in the existing rate as well.
Cryopreservation of the Brain by Vitrification
For insiders and outsiders alike it can be hard to separate hype from reality when it comes to scientific advances in the science and technologies that support cryonics. Recent media announcements of research “breakthroughs” and a new company aimed at perfecting reversible cryopreservation prompted us to ask noted cryobiologist Brian Wowk to provide an update on the state of cryopreservation of the brain and neural tissue. He also discusses a recent postmortem ischemia paper that achieved a lot of media attention.
Another comment is provided by our colleague Andy Mckenzie over at Neurobiology Notes.
Southern Cryonics’ First Case
Australians have been cryopreserved before, both those living there and those who relocated. One of the latter is Thomas Donaldson whose cryonics-related writing remains valuable today. Another kind of first has occurred in Australia. Southern Cryonics and its SST (standby, stabilization, and transport) partner CryoPath cryopreserved someone for the first time in mid-May of this year.
The few previous cryonics cases in Australia were handled by the Alcor Foundation and Cryonics Institute. This was the first to be managed by an Australian biostasis organization. Creating a functional and effective cryonics organization is a tough job. All the evidence suggests this first case went well. After several years of planning and gestation, SC only went into operation a little over a year ago. This was the first real test of the organization’s capabilities. All evidence at this point suggests success and a new organization that does as it was meant to do. Our congratulations!
Southern Cryonics handled the case of Southern Cryonics’ Patient 1 from May 12 to 17. Clinical death was reported early in the morning of May 12. Phil Rhoades, Peter Tsolakides, and Australian Blood Management (ABM) responded. Hospital cooperation was good and the funeral home helpful. The ABM team included at least 4 personnel and up to 6, including clinical perfusionists and a doctor.
One especially interesting feature of this case is ABM’s apparent use of ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). We hope to report more on this topic in the near future because the finer distinctions between cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and ECMO are often misunderstood in our field.
In a recent blog essay, Max More expressed optimism for Southern Cryonics. (I encourage them to follow through with a full case report.) This seems to be a good example of how smart, driven people can learn from existing organizations and build an effective new organization. One of SC’s prime movers, Peter Tsolakides, communicated with Alcor (and perhaps other organizations) during their planning phases. Peter made an incredibly fortunately timed visit to the USA some years ago. He was able to witness not only a cryopreservation but also a (rare) delivery of a dewar.
We do not know who “Patient 1” is but we wish him or her good fortune in their brave leap into he future. Congratulations to the SC team and all those who worked together. You can find SC’s own brief account of the case is here.
Life extension to combat an aging, shrinking population
A common objection to life extension – including biostasis – is that it would worsen overpopulation. The tragically amusing thing about that claim is that no one was worried about overpopulation until well into the 1960s. The worry started almost exactly or slightly after global population growth peaked in 1963. Since then the global average fertility rate has more than halved from 5.32 in 1963 to around 2.4 in 2021. (The fertility rate in high income countries peaked in 1959.)
Rapid population growth then ended as the fertility rate declined. 80% of the world’s population live in countries with a fertility rate below 3 children per woman. Population growth has been slowing for over 60 years and yet it is still raised as a concern! Only in just the last few years, more attention is being given to the “demographic deficit” or the looming threat of “an empty planet”. Depending on which model you accept, global population growth is expected to stop and turn into a decline by anywhere from the 2060s to the end of the century. For developed countries, falling population will arrive decades earlier.
New population estimates from the United Nations reinforce the more recent understanding. As recently as 2017, the UN estimated global population at 11.2 billion in 2100 and still growing (though much more slowly). Its 2022 estimates put the peak much earlier in the 2080s at 10.4 billion. UN’s projections remain higher than those of other sophisticated models including those of the Wittgenstein Center and the IHME. The IHME projects a peak population of 9.5 billion in the 2080s (or 2060s depending on contraception and female education), followed by decline. Assumptions about Africa’s path can move the total by a billion. However, projections for our part of the world are more reliable.
The United States is doing better at maintaining its population as compared to Europe. Even so, the USA’s total fertility rate is now only 1.63 (Census Bureau, 2023). That means our population will shrink quite fast without significant immigration. The most recent number of birth – 3.59 million births – was the lowest since 1979.
The working age population is sure to decline even faster – unless we get working, widely available life extension treatments. A shrinking population causes economic, financial, social, and political problems. Effective and widely available age reversal is the best possible response (AI might help too), including biostasis. Next time you get hit with the overpopulation argument, try tossing them some of these current facts and projections and see how they respond.
Population trends and projections and their relevance to life extension are covered in more depth in Max More’s most recent version of his population essay.
Global Cryonics Summit
On July 20-21, thought leaders in cryonics will gather for the Global Cryonics Summit in Miami Florida. Speakers include Biostasis Technologies President Aschwin de Wolf, Biostasis Technologies Director of Communications Max More, and Director of Clinical Education at Resurgence Biomedical Sciences, Aaron Drake.