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The Evidence

The American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began funding research on low temperature suspended animation during the space race with the Soviets. (The exploration of space is considered to be too limited by human lifespan, because of the vast distances which must be traversed.) Many other animals, typically those with simple cell structures, have been frozen, stored and revived; like the nematode worm for example. Many types of human cells, including blood, sperm and ova, are currently being stored indefinitely at low temperatures. In recent years human ova have not only been vitrified but also successfully restored to life. Thousands of human zygotes and embryos have been stored in liquid nitrogen since 1982 and subsequently developed into normal, healthy children after implantation and birth. The longest period between storage and revival of human embryos took place after 21 years of cryopreservation, resulting in the birth of a healthy boy. (This record was reported on May 25th, 2004 in EuropeË˙s leading reproductive medical journal, Human Reproduction.) Indeed, if one believes that a human embryo is a human being, then cryonics has already succeeded. Stored embryos are potential human beings, frozen to the point of non-functioning (i.e. medical death); but their structures are preserved. They are later revived (they function again), implanted and born, continuing to live and grow today. Although older human beings are more complex and as yet can only be preserved, there is a great body of evidence to show that human adult life (function) could be restored in the future, so long as the necessary fields of study are allowed to continue and are well funded.

Partial successes with a larger organism were observed by Isamu Suda and colleagues at Kobe University in Japan in the 1960s, in their work with the brains of cats. In one experiment, for example, an anesthetized brain was cryoprotected with a glycerol solution and stored for more than 200 days at 20°C; well below the freezing point of water. On re-warming and reperfusion with blood, the brains produced recognizable brain waves, indicating coordinated neural activity. In the last few years people suffering cardiac arrest have had their bodies cooled to induce a state of mild hypothermia, which reduces the brain's need for oxygen. This improved the patients' chances of survival and their odds of avoiding brain damage as a result of brain ischemia. There are ongoing experiments in healing brain damage caused by strokes and injuries, using ice packs or threading freezing catheters through patients' veins.

In the natural world, there are examples of revival following prolonged exposure to subfreezing temperatures. The common wood frog, Rana sylvatica, spends its winters in cold sleep when temperatures drop below freezing. The frogË˙s metabolism slows to a near halt, so that its cells can survive on small amounts of oxygen and energy. The liver then begins to create an antifreeze made of glucose that keeps most of the water inside the frogË˙s cells from solidifying into damaging ice crystals. The frogË˙s animation and brain functions are virtually suspended until springtime when it revives. Another example is the NASA discovery of an Earthly species of bacteria that had been frozen in ancient ice for 32,000 years. Amazingly, these simple organisms were revived after this very long cryopreservation. It is clear that long term cryopreservation can be naturally initiated and survived, hinting at clues which might be used to improve our medicine.

Science is learning from natural examples, and advances in freezing and reviving life show an increasing body of cryobiological knowledge that could lead to the success of the cryonics experiment; success that would lead to a new and healthy life for those who are cryopreserved after current, accepted medical procedures have failed them.

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