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This article is from the Cryonics FAQ, by Tim Freeman tim@infoscreen.com with numerous contributions by others.

4-2. Who made the statement about reviving a frozen person being similar to reconstructing the cow from hamburger? (Cryonics)

The cryobiologist Arthur Rowe is responsible for promoting this
misrepresentation. Specifically, he says:
"Believing cryonics could reanimate somebody who has been
frozen is like believing you can turn hamburger back into
a cow."

The analogy is not valid. Some vertebrates can survive freezing, but
no vertebrates can survive grinding.

Here is what CRFT said on page A-40:
"This is absurd. Cryonics patients are frozen long before most of
their cells die or become structurally disorganized. The freezing
techniques used in cryonic suspension are based upon hundreds of
published studies in which scientists have shown that almost all
mammalian cells, including brain cells, can survive freezing and
thawing!"

As an interesting aside, according to Matthew P Wiener
(weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu), sponges can reassemble themselves
after being diced up into small pieces. I don't know if they could
survive grinding, and I don't know if each piece occupies the same
location after dicing as before.

 

Continue to:

• prev: 4-1. Why do cryobiologists have such a low opinion of cryonics? How did this start, and how does it continue?
• Index
• next: 4-3. What was the Dora Kent case? (Cryonics)

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reading, books, cryonics, cryonic suspension, freezing, metabolism