From: David C. Harris (dharris@best.com)
Date: Fri Jan 31 1997 - 12:52:27 MST
The front page center column (normally odd little stories) of Friday's
Wall Street Journal has a report on the cryonics industry, with particular
coverage of Paul Wakfer and Dr. Olga Visser. Mr. Wakfer is president of
Cryospan and organizer of the Prometheus Project which would attempt to
demonstrate revival of a central nervous system. Dr. Visser is a South
African researcher who claims to have revived a rat's heart after cooling to
liquid nitrogen temperatures in a secret preservative solution.
The Journal reports that Dr. Visser's work is going to be examined and
possibly replicated by her at this weekend's Alcor festival in Arizona.
The company Biotime (BTIM, NASDAQ small cap stocks) in Berkeley,
California, is said to be "getting back" a "decent percentage" of the
hamsters that it plunges into a freezing bath and reheats. [Remember that
hamsters have a stong hibernation reflex, while humans have only a limited
hibernation capacity, in cold water for instance.] Biotime is testing a
proprietaty solution to dilute blood in surgery, organ preservation, and
other human applications.
The general tone of the article is skeptical but factually accurate, in my
opinion.
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