Cryonic revival experiments will first be done on animals (hasn’t it been done with a mouse already?) because they’re more expendable. Once it gets to the point of freezing and reviving a dog without apparent ill effects (in near/far terms, when cryonics gets near), then it might be a useful publicity stunt for a scientist to freeze and revive his pet dog. For added impact, a dog in need of a kidney transplant but which needs to wait longer for a suitable kidney than it can survive without one, thus demonstrating the prime motivation for cryonic suspension: an ambulance ride into the future.
Cryonic revival experiments will first be done on animals (hasn’t it been done with a mouse already?)
No one has revived a mouse. Kidneys have been done in rabbits. And we’ve also brought dogs down to low but slightly above freezing temperatures and brought them back with no substantial damage. But keep in mind that bringing something to the point of freezing in water is much higher temperature than liquid nitrogen and while kidneys have been brought to liquid nitrogen temperatures and back with minimal damage, kidneys are one of the simplest vital organs.
Reversible vitrification of major organs is a reasonable prospect within this decade. What about vitrification of whole animals? This is a much more difficult problem. Some organs, such as the kidney and brain, are privileged organs for vitrification because of their high blood flow rate. This allows vitrification chemicals to enter and leave them quickly before there are toxic effects. Most other tissues would not survive the long chemical exposure time required to absorb a sufficient concentration to prevent freezing.
I’m not too optimistic about reversal of full-body preservations performed in the next few decades. I am much more optimistic about prospects of regrowing the non-brain organs and creating a new body from them.
Yes, not only revival experiments (which are far off) but stabilization experiments (which pay off in the here and now) are typically done on animals. No mice have ever been brought back from LN2 temperatures, but a rabbit kidney has been. For all we know, brains might be capable of survival (i.e. without nanorepair) under the best protocols, but this is not as easily testable as kidney function.
Cryonic revival experiments will first be done on animals (hasn’t it been done with a mouse already?) because they’re more expendable. Once it gets to the point of freezing and reviving a dog without apparent ill effects (in near/far terms, when cryonics gets near), then it might be a useful publicity stunt for a scientist to freeze and revive his pet dog. For added impact, a dog in need of a kidney transplant but which needs to wait longer for a suitable kidney than it can survive without one, thus demonstrating the prime motivation for cryonic suspension: an ambulance ride into the future.
No one has revived a mouse. Kidneys have been done in rabbits. And we’ve also brought dogs down to low but slightly above freezing temperatures and brought them back with no substantial damage. But keep in mind that bringing something to the point of freezing in water is much higher temperature than liquid nitrogen and while kidneys have been brought to liquid nitrogen temperatures and back with minimal damage, kidneys are one of the simplest vital organs.
The brain and kidney do have similarities though.
Medical Time Travel
I’m not too optimistic about reversal of full-body preservations performed in the next few decades. I am much more optimistic about prospects of regrowing the non-brain organs and creating a new body from them.
Yes, not only revival experiments (which are far off) but stabilization experiments (which pay off in the here and now) are typically done on animals. No mice have ever been brought back from LN2 temperatures, but a rabbit kidney has been. For all we know, brains might be capable of survival (i.e. without nanorepair) under the best protocols, but this is not as easily testable as kidney function.