International Longevity and Cryopreservation Summit

The Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, where the first two days of the Summit were held

The International Longevity and Cryopreservation Summit was an international conference on cryopreservation and longevity extension. It took place in Spain from May 25 to May 27, 2017.

The summit began with a two-day academic conference in Madrid, Spain, which was attempted by some of the world's leading scientists in the fields of cryopreservation and longevity. The summit examined how to use the latest longevity and cryonics technology to optimize cardiac surgeries, stem cell treatments, organ transplantation, autologous blood transfusions, and more.

The first two day's sessions were held at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, the third day's at the IE Business School.

The summit concluded with an Award Ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first heart transplant and the first cryopreserved human.

Skepticism and significance

Expressing a popular opinion, neuroethicist Ole Martin Moen noted that cryonics is "often viewed with suspicion." When used "in the hope that future medicine will make it possible to revive [deceased people] ... [it is] a speculative practice at the outer edge of science."

However, it is well established that cooling the body sufficiently can keep biological tissue alive for extended periods. For example, cryopreservation is used during some cardiac surgeries and stem cell treatments.

The freezing and reanimation of human organs is still far away. However, since the inception of cryogenics about 50 years ago, scientists have frozen and successfully reanimated spermatozoon, eggs embryos, and tissues and organs, including from some small mammals. Rather than focusing on the "speculative practice" of bringing dead humans back to life, Summit speakers focused on how to use cryonics to improve modern diagnoses, treatments, and surgeries.

Regarding Juan Carlos Izpisúa, one of the Summit's leading speakers, one source wrote:

“ Izpisúa has achieved milestones that make us think that we can preserve the youth for much longer.... It makes us dream of curing diseases as sad as congenital glaucoma, alleviating the suffering it causes and improving the quality of life to an extreme never before achieved. ”

Like Izpisúa, most of the Summit's speakers discussed, and described advancements in, the use of emerging technologies to treat specific diseases and enhance treatment procedures.

Emerging technologies

Among the varied medical, social, and ethical issues discussed at the conference were:

• Latest developments in cellular regeneration – which could help re-generate nerve cells that deteriorate in glaucoma
• Implications of the latest stem-cell research for treating terminal illnesses
• Improvements in autologous blood transfusion
• Advancements in cardiovascular surgical repair
• The identification of cryoprotectants which could protect the brain and other organs from damage
• Collaboration on increasing the number of available organs for transplant through the use of non-heart beating donors
• The legal and ethical dilemmas posed by cryopreservation and longevity science – including the implications for "amplified humans, robots, and cyborgs"

One analysis of the conference's significance concluded that "the cryonics industry remains small enough at this time to benefit considerably from greater efforts to draw together the groups of supporters that exist in numerous countries around the world." Another advertised the Summit as "An international meeting that will reveal the scientific keys to live longer."

Agenda

Sessions throughout the three-day conference discussed a variety of issues from the point of view of the medical science, but also social science and how a context with high longevity can affect the society. To this end, Antonio Garrigues Walker pronounced some introducing words addressing this topic.

Anti-aging therapies

A first-day session on Longevity and Life Extension opened with lectures from Maria Blasco Marhuenda of the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas, entitled Hallmarks of Aging: Towards Longevity Extension, and the Salk Institute's Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, entitled Gene Edition and Cellular Regeneration. A fellow panelist discussed the dermatological implications of longevity science.

Among the topics discussed were the use of cryopreservation in improving cardiac surgery

Cardiac surgery

A subsequent two sessions on Cryopreservation and Life Extension where international cardiothoracic surgeons such as Yves Glock from Toulouse, Juan Carlos Chachques from Paris, Javier Cabo and Jesus Herreros from Spain, Michael Huebler from Zurich and Jorge Trainini from Argentina, leaders in the field of cryopreservation of homografts, where it was clear the advantage of using cryopreserved and decellularized homografts on the other grafts including the "autologous fresh homograft" as substitutes for cardiovascular surgical repair. A subsequent session on Cryopreservation and Life Extension included a panel led by Aubrey de Grey, an update on brain-specific cryoprotectants, a discussion of the use of non-heart beating donors for organ transplantation, and an evaluation of specific tools for organ cryopreservation.

Discussing Biogeneration and Suspended Animation, an afternoon session opened with a discussion by Max More of Alcor Life Extension Foundation entitled Cryopreservation and its Future. Additional panelists discussed the use of new technology for tissue regeneration, particularly in terms of its implications for cardiac surgery and disease.

Legal, ethical, and scientific challenges

Sessions on the Summit's second day focused on the legal, economic, and ethical aspects of cryopreservation. It featured legal panels, discussions of the economic implications of extended longevity, and lectures like Why Should I Try To Live Longer? Why Try to Live Twice? by Ramón Tamames of the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales and Políticas.

Other sessions focused on the scientific challenges of cryopreservation. Greg Fahy affirmed that Complex Biological Systems Can be Cryopreserved by describing several successes with challenging living systems. Fellow panelists discussed the future of stem cells, cell reprogramming, and even the implications of cryopreservation for "amplified humans, robots, and cyborgs."

One panelist, Ricardo de Lorenzo, pointed out that lengthened lifespans could increase the importance of advance directives (and the frequency with which they are needed). However, he cautions, healthcare workers are already often uncertain about how to use these, and end-of-life decisions often cause legal and ethical dilemmas.

Special presentations

The Summit also featured an oral and poster presentation featuring work on a variety of topics, from discussions of a variety of techniques for tissue regeneration, to the ethical issues posed by cryopreservation, to the use of cutting-edge technology in enhancing longevity. Additionally, it offered nine two-hour "mini-courses" taught by expert speakers, including:

• Ricardo Ruiz, Director of Dermatology of the Ruber Clinic and General Director of the International Dermatological Clinic
• Dr. Pedro Guillén, Founder of the Madrid-based Clínica CEMTRO
• Javier Castrodeza, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality; and
• Jose Luis Mazuelas, President of Fundación VidaPlus

Organizers

Fundacion VidaPlus was the Summit's main organizer. According to the Summit's webpage, its chairmen were Jose Luis Cordeiro and Javier Cabo. The summit has several partners, including Universidad a distancia de Madrid (UDIMA) and Alcor Life Extension Foundation.

References

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