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© 1991-2002 Jerry Emanuelson NANOTECHNOLOGY
In the final analysis, aging and death have only one cause: for whatever reason, the atoms and molecules in our bodies have moved from their proper positions; and other molecules and atoms have moved into positions where they should not be. The molecular machinery in our bodies maintains our lives by handling molecules at the molecular level. A molecular machine is a large molecule that manipulates other molecules, one at a time. We put random assortments of molecules, in the form of food, into our bodies; but these molecules are useless without the intricate molecular machinery in our bodies that sorts through the molecules, rearranging them as necessary, and transporting them to their proper places. When we take a supplemental vitamin or hormone or a medicine, all we can do with today's technology is to inject it into our bloodstream or swallow it, and hope that the body's molecular machinery will transport and use the substances properly. During surgery, even the most precise microsurgery, the surgeon's scalpel slices through thousands of cells -- moving trillions of molecules out of their proper positions. At the cellular level, every surgical procedure is an unbelievably crude operation. The surgeon relies heavily on the molecular machinery of the body to put things back in position after the surgery is over. If we could develop machines the size of viruses to continuously and efficiently maintain the molecules of our bodies, augmenting the natural molecular machinery in our bodies, we would never get sick. Such maintenance would have to include getting rid of the molecules that aren't supposed to be there. When an unfriendly bacteria or virus invades our bodies, the immune system mounts a defense against the invasion; but the production of antibodies is often slow, and the battle of antibody vs. invader is basically a battle of protein vs. protein. The outcome of the battle is not always favorable for the human. If our natural antibodies were augmented by artificial antibodies made of carbon-fiber composites and guided by virus-sized computers more powerful than today's supercomputers, no intruder would have a chance of infecting us. If similar artificial molecular machines were continuously checking our cells for damage, and our DNA for mutations, and making repairs, we would see the end of aging damage and of all natural causes of death. This will probably happen within the next 30 years. Natural molecular machinery is at the basis of all life. A peach tree contains intricate molecular machinery that rearranges the molecules in dirt, water and air into a peach. Artificial molecular machines developed in the next few decades will be able to do the same thing a peach tree does, but much more efficiently. Most people alive today will live to see the day that they can pour some dirt and water into a tabletop machine and instruct the machine to make whatever fruit or vegetable they select. The finished product will be available, fully ripened, within the hour. The agricultural revolution took centuries. The industrial revolution took decades. Molecular nanotechnology will change human civilization more than the agricultural or industrial revolution. The revolution of molecular nanotechnology, though, will only take a few months -- or, at most, a few years. The cell repair machines of molecular nanotechnology will not only prevent the natural causes of death, but most death by trauma as well. Artificial molecular machines can perform repairs far faster than the natural healing process. If an injury is so severe that it overwhelms the artificial healing process, the molecular machines can place the body into biostasis, halting all further damage until more help arrives. The nanotechnology revolution could arrive within the next 15 years. The subject of molecular nanotechnology was introduced to the world by Eric Drexler in his book Engines of Creation. Anyone who plans to be alive for at least 15 years should read that book. If all natural causes of death were eliminated, and if death by
accident, suicide or homicide occurred at the same rate they do today, then the median life span would be a little less than 700 years. Since this level of molecular nanotechnology is likely to arrive within the next 30 years, most people alive today will
very likely achieve a life span measured in centuries.
CRYONICS Since the early 1960's, people have seriously discussed the idea of freezing those who die in the hope that future technology would be able to revive them and restore them to health. This process is known as cryonics. Until the mid-1980's, the probability of cryonics being successful had to be considered as very slim. One problem was that no one knew what sort of technology would be able to revive the frozen dead. The hope of cryonics was based on faith that new technologies would continue to develop so that, perhaps 200 years in the future, the frozen could be revived. The more serious problem with cryonics was that few organizations survive for centuries. It was likely that, no matter how well-intentioned the cryonics organization, after a number of years or decades, the cryonics organization would dissolve, or the people caring for the frozen bodies would lose the will or the resources to continue. In fact, one of the early cryonics organizations did dissolve, and the frozen bodies under its care thawed and decayed and were buried. Once the prospect of molecular nanotechnology became apparent, the grim prognosis for cryonics changed. We now know what technology (molecular nanotechnology) can be used to revive those in cryonic suspension, and we know that the cryonics organizations need only survive for the two or three more decades until the nanotechnology revolution. One cryonics organization has already survived for nearly 30 years, and one man has already been cryonically suspended in liquid nitrogen since 1967. At this particular time in the evolution of human technology, anyone who dies before the advent of nanotechnology will be losing centuries of healthy life. Burial or cremation eliminates the possibility of being revived by nanotechnology, but cryonics provides an ambulance to the future. One does not need to be wealthy to take advantage of cryonics. Most people pay for cryonics through a life insurance policy. This means that the younger you are the less it costs. The policy value generally needs to be $50,000 to $120,000 depending upon the cryonics organization and the method of cryonic suspension to be used. There are three major organizations in the United States providing cryonic suspension services. The Alcor Foundation is by far the largest of the organizations and is clearly superior to the others. (See the Resources section of this manual for contact information.) Anyone signing up for cryonic suspension should read everything about Alcor and about cryonics that they can, and make the decision carefully. The major obstacle to successful cryonic suspension is intrusive government bureaucracies. In some years, most of the money spent by cryonics organizations has gone for legal fees. This has, however, given people at Alcor considerable experience that will be useful in dealing with government problems in the future. Alcor uses very sophisticated cryonic suspension procedures. Shortly after legal death the body is infused with a cryoprotectant (a biological "antifreeze") in a carefully controlled procedure in a well-equipped operating room. The entire freezing process from legal death to liquid nitrogen temperature usually takes about three weeks. The cryonics organizations are constantly refining their techniques. During the week of Aug. 30 - Sept. 4, 1996, cryobiologist Michelle Olga Visser repeated her groundbreaking cryoprotective techniques in experiments at Alcor's facilities in Scottsdale, Arizona. During those experiments, attempts were made to freeze rat hearts at liquid nitrogen temperatures, then revive and re-start the hearts. Although there were several failures during the week, three of the rodent hearts retrieved from liquid nitrogen were successfully re-started. Two of the hearts showed weak beating and one showed strong beating. In previous experiments at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, Visser has successfully revived rat hearts that had been stored in liquid nitrogen for up to 45 minutes. Those signed up for cryonic suspension wear a necktag or bracelet that has the phone number of the cryonics organization and tells medical personnel what to do if the patient is legally dead before the cryonics people arrive. One advantage of signing up for cryonic suspension is that you have to take care of all those documents that everyone should take of care of anyway: documents like wills, living wills, health care directives and durable powers of attorney for health care. There is a rather large amount of paperwork required for signing up for cryonic suspension, but much of it consists of documents that everyone should have, but do not. |