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The Scientific Basis

Although cryonics is a potentially life-saving medical procedure with a scientific rationale, many perceive the procedures as mere science fiction or even a con, simply because it is experimental and "unusual". This is partly because of popular misconceptions due to misinformation and partly because people are generally unaware of the important distinction between biological function (the moving, feeding, excreting, normally living cell or body) and biological structure (the physical plans and foundations for functional life; for example, a cell wall, a neural network, a skeleton). Perhaps this lack of awareness occurs because the medical establishment is paternalistic, or because people˙s general knowledge is not too scientific, or because people are often most comfortable in accepting only the prescribed protocols of the culture in which they live concerning such serious (and even taboo) matters such as life and death. Together, function and structure enable life. Cryonics does not preserve all biological functions; vital functions like brain activity and heartbeat are recognized as ended when modern medicine pronounces a person dead. But cryonics does preserve cellular, organ and bodily structure, and this is what makes it so important as a potentially life-saving procedure. It may seem fanciful that death could be prevented as a result of cryonics, but the practice has scientific support (though many scientists and physicians prejudicially dismiss the idea).

The scientific basis for the cryonics experiment is already established, mainly through cryobiology. Cryobiology (Note the important distinction between cryobiology (studied by biologists) and cryogenics (studied by physicists); the latter is the study of matter at extremely low temperatures.) is the scientific field which studies the effects that low bodily temperatures (below the norm of -37°C) have on the biology of warm-blooded animals. These temperatures can slow chemical reactions within the body and preserve biological materials (cryopreservation, like freezing an embryo), or they can disrupt temperature-dependent chemical pathways and destroy biological materials (cryosurgery, like freezing a wart).

Cryobiology is an ancient form of medicine. The first written record of the use of low temperatures in medical practice is found on an Egyptian papyrus from 2,500 B.C.. Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) endorsed the use of cold to control bleeding and swelling. Robert Boyle (1627-91) studied the effects of low temperatures on animals, and James Arnott used cryosurgery on cancer cells in 1845. In 1949, S. Polge, A. U. Smith and A. S. Parkes cryopreserved bull sperm, initiating a new era in the field; progressive research has continued ever since.

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