Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Nap Quest: How Suspended Animation Could Fuel Space Exploration

May 31st 2021

In space, no one can hear you sleep — but it’s possible that alarms could one day wake astronauts on alien worlds hundreds or thousands of light years away. This is the promise and potential of suspended animation, sometimes called human hibernation or “cryosleep.” While it’s still (mostly) the stuff of science fiction, new advancements in snooze-related science could turn this into a tired-and-true method for space exploration.

[...]

Both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have begun preliminary research into cryosleep solutions. But how exactly would this suspended snooze-fest work?

It all starts with torpor, a hypermetabolic state already seen in animals such as hummingbirds that significantly reduces their body temperature and, in turn, the amount of energy required to keep their bodies alive. While torpor bears similarities to true hibernation, including lowered body temperatures and slowed processes, torpor cycles typically require daily food foraging. Meanwhile, hibernation relies on increased resource consumption prior to deep sleep but is associated with much longer periods of reduced activity. Successful snooze-based solutions for astronauts are about splitting the difference.

“If we were able to reduce an astronaut’s basic metabolic rate by 75% — similar to what we can observe in nature with large hibernating animals such as certain bears — we could end up with substantial mass and cost savings, making long-duration exploration missions more feasible,” notes Dr. Jennifer Ngo-Anh, a research team leader for the ESA study. If humans could be put into a state of controlled torpor that reduced consumption needs without requiring the massive pre-feed to sustain hibernation, it could be our ticket to the stars.

The good news? This idea isn’t just science fiction. Controlled hibernation has been used to help improve recovery after serious events, such as gunshot wounds, and reduce the risk of brain damage during surgery. In practice, this requires the slow decrease of internal body temperature.

Read more: https://now.northropgrumman.com/nap-que ... ploration/
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Frozen eggs and sperm storage limit increased to 55 years

44 minutes ago

Storage limits for eggs, sperm and embryos will go up to 55 years under government plans that ministers say will give people greater choice over when to start a family.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the current limit of 10 years was "severely restrictive."

Modern freezing techniques mean eggs can be stored indefinitely without deterioration, research from the Royal College of Obstetricians has suggested.

The plans need parliamentary approval.

The Department for Health said there would be extra conditions around third party donors and use of a person's frozen cells after they have died.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58456832
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

New cryopreservation technique revives heart tissue after three days

18th October 2021

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have successfully revived human heart tissue after it had been preserved in a subfreezing, supercooled state for up to three days.

[...]

By preserving cardiac tissue at a constant volume in a rigid isochoric chamber, researchers managed to prevent the formation of ice crystals that could have damaged the micro heart muscle cells. They examined the structural integrity of the heart cells and whether the tissue retained normal functions, such as autonomous beating, and responsiveness to drugs and external electrical stimuli. Tests confirmed that their method – which they call "isochoric supercooling" – had not altered the structural integrity of the heart tissue, nor did it significantly affect the beat rate or beat waveform.

[...]

In the longer term, the researchers believe their new cooling and revival technique will be scaled up to full organs.

Read more: https://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/202 ... meline.htm


Image
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
raklian
Posts: 1747
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:46 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by raklian »

To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
User avatar
Yuli Ban
Posts: 4631
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:44 pm

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by Yuli Ban »

And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Parents welcome twins from embryos frozen 30 years ago

Updated 9:18 AM EST, Mon November 21, 2022

In April 1992, Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last” topped the Billboard 100, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton was running for the White House, “Who’s the Boss?” aired its final episode, and the babies born to Rachel and Philip Ridgeway a couple of weeks ago were frozen as embryos.

Born on October 31, Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway were born from what may be the longest-frozen embryos to ever result in a live birth, according to the National Embryo Donation Center.

The previous known record holder was Molly Gibson, born in 2020 from an embryo that had been frozen for nearly 27 years. Molly took the record from her sister Emma, who was born from an embryo that had been frozen for 24 years.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/21/heal ... index.html
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Scientists successfully unfroze rat organs and transplanted them — a ‘historic’ step that could someday transform transplant medicine

June 21, 2023

The rat kidney was peculiarly beautiful — an edgeless viscera about the size of a quarter, gemstone-like and gleaming as if encased in pure glass.

It owed its veneer to a frosty descent in liquid nitrogen vapor to minus 150-degrees Celsius, a process known as vitrification, that shocked the kidney into an icy state of suspended animation. Then researchers at the University of Minnesota restarted the kidney’s biological clock, rewarming it before transplanting it back into a live rat — who survived the ordeal.

In all, five rats received a vitrified-then-thawed kidney in a study whose results were published this month in Nature Communications. It’s the first time scientists have shown it’s possible to successfully and repeatedly transplant a life-sustaining mammalian organ after it has been rewarmed from this icy metabolic arrest. Outside experts unequivocally called the results a seminal milestone for the field of organ preservation.

“It’s historic,” said Mehmet Toner, a biomedical engineer at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Harvard Medical School professor working in organ cryopreservation. “This is the beginning of a very exciting journey.”

If researchers someday successfully translate those results into humans, experts told STAT, organ cryopreservation and rewarming could revolutionize transplant medicine — and potentially save tens of thousands of lives each year in the U.S. alone.

https://www.statnews.com/2023/06/21/cry ... ansplants/


Image
Credit: Caroline Yang for STAT
User avatar
funkervogt
Posts: 1171
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:03 pm

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by funkervogt »

That's such great news. As soon as we create an AGI, I hope one of the things we task it with is finding better cryopreservation methods. It could accelerate progress in that field (as with any other).
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Cryonics & Cryogenics News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

We have a complete mouse cryopreservation and revival predicted for 2025-2035. I had considered removing that for being overly optimistic, but I guess it can stay for now.
Post Reply