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{{short description|Nonprofit organization}}
{{Infobox non-profit
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = American Cryonics Society
| name = American Cryonics Society
| image =
| image =
| type =
| type =
| founded_date = {{Start date|1966|12|10}}
| founded_date = {{Start date and age|1969|12|10}}
| tax_id = 94-2398719
| tax_id = 94-2398719
| registration_id = C0587199
| registration_id = C0587199
| founder = Dr. M. Coleman Harris, Edgar Swank, Dr. Grace Talbot, Jerome B. White, Walt E. Disney<ref>
| founder = Dr. M. Coleman Harris, Edgar Swank, Dr. Grace Talbot, Jerome B. White<ref>{{Cite web |last=Swank |first=Edgar |date=October 2010 |title=The top 13 reasons to join ACS |url=http://americancryonics.org/top13.html |access-date=2011-02-11}}</ref>
| location = 355 W Olive, Ste 210 [[Sunnyvale, California]] 94086
{{cite web
| coordinates = {{Coord|37|22|17.1048|N|122|2|8.718|W|type:landmark}}
| url = http://americancryonics.org/top13.html
| title = The top 13 reasons to join ACS
| first = Edgar
| last = Swank
|date=October 2010
| accessdate = 2011-02-11
}}</ref>
| location = 20370 Town Center Lane 100, [[Cupertino, California]] 95014
| coordinates = {{Coord|37|19|7.01|N|122|1|48.64|W|type:landmark}}
| origins =
| origins =
| key_people =
| key_people =
Line 22: Line 16:
| product =
| product =
| mission =
| mission =
| focus = [[cryonics]]
| focus = [[Cryonics]]
| method =
| method =
| revenue =
| revenue =
Line 33: Line 27:
| non-profit_slogan =
| non-profit_slogan =
| former name = Bay Area Cryonics Society
| former name = Bay Area Cryonics Society
| homepage = {{URL|americancryonics.org}}<br/>{{URL|cryonics.ws}}
| homepage = {{URL|americancryonics.org}}
| dissolved =
| dissolved =
| footnotes =
| footnotes =
}}
}}


The '''American Cryonics Society''' ('''ACS'''), also known as the '''Cryonics Society of America''', is a member-run, [[California]]-based, [[501(c)#501.28c.29.283.29|501(c)(3)]] [[Tax exemption|tax-exempt]] [[nonprofit organization]] that supports and promotes research and education into [[cryonics]] and [[cryobiology]]. Cryonics is the preservation through cold storage, usually with [[liquid nitrogen]], of humans (and sometimes non-human animals) after legal death. This procedure is done in the hopes of eventual "reanimation." Any such reanimation depends upon future technological advances that are hoped for, but by no means assured or promised.
The '''American Cryonics Society''' ('''ACS'''), also known as the '''Cryonics Society of America''', is a member-run, [[California]]-based, [[501(c)#501.28c.29.283.29|501(c)(3)]] [[Tax exemption|tax-exempt]] [[nonprofit organization]] that supports and promotes research and education into [[cryonics]] and [[cryobiology]]. The American Cryonics Society is the oldest cryonics organization still in existence.<ref name="philly.com">{{Cite news |last=Guynn |first=Jessica |year=2002 |title=Techies go for ice-cold afterlife |url=http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/Aug2002/WaitingForACureWithCryogenics.html |access-date=2009-08-26 |work=[[Contra Costa Times]]}}</ref>

The American Cryonics Society is the oldest cryonics organization still in existence.<ref name="philly.com">{{cite news
| url = http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/Aug2002/WaitingForACureWithCryogenics.html
| last = Guynn
| first = Jessica
| work = [[Contra Costa Times]]
| year = 2002
| publisher =
| accessdate = 2009-08-26
| title = Techies go for ice-cold afterlife
}}</ref> Since 1972 ACS has offered a program where members who enroll, are placed into cryonic suspension upon their deaths and then maintained in [[liquid nitrogen]]. This program provides for continuous funding so that the relatives of the subject are not required to pay for the initial freezing, yearly maintenance in liquid nitrogen, or eventual reanimation (should the latter prove possible). Members often provide such funding through the purchase of a life insurance policy.


==History==
==History==
The American Cryonics Society was first incorporated in 1969 in [[San Francisco]] as the [[Bay Area]] Cryonics Society (BACS);<ref name="cryonics institution">{{Cite web |last=Mondragon |first=Carlos |year=1994 |title=Defining the Cryonics Institution |url=http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/institution.html |access-date=2009-08-23 |website=Cryonics and Life Extension Conference |publisher=Alcor Life Extension Foundation}}</ref> its name was changed to the American Cryonics Society in 1985. The founding of the company followed over two years of organizational meetings by cryonics activists. Signers of the founding charter included two well-known Bay Area [[physician]]s, Dr. M. Coleman Harris, and Dr. Grace Talbot. The 1969 incorporation date makes it the oldest cryonics society still in existence. The [[Immortalist Society]] (IS), with which the American Cryonics Society works closely, is a successor to the Cryonics Society of Michigan whose founding predates that of the American Cryonics Society.
The American Cryonics Society was first incorporated in 1969 in [[San Francisco]] as the [[Bay Area]] Cryonics Society (BACS);<ref name="cryonics institution">{{cite web
<ref name="cryonics history">{{Cite web |last=Best |first=Ben |year=2008 |title=A History of Cryonics |url=https://www.benbest.com/cryonics/history.html |website=The Immortalist |publisher=Cryonics Institute}}{{self-published source?|date=August 2024}}</ref>
| url = http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/institution.html
| last = Mondragon
| first = Carlos
| work = Cryonics and Life Extension Conference
| year = 1994
| publisher = Alcor Life Extension Foundation
| accessdate = 2009-08-23
| title = Defining the Cryonics Institution}}</ref> its name was changed to the American Cryonics Society in 1985. The founding of the company followed over two years of organizational meetings by cryonics activists. Signers of the founding charter included two well-known Bay Area [[physician]]s, Dr. M. Coleman Harris, and Dr. Grace Talbot. The 1969 incorporation date makes it the oldest cryonics society still in existence. The [[Immortalist Society]] (IS), with which the American Cryonics Society works closely, is a successor to the Cryonics Society of Michigan whose founding predates that of the American Cryonics Society.

Since its beginning, the American Cryonics Society has made valuable contributions to research and methodology of freezing and cold storage of organs and organism. The first suspensions of humans under the ACS program were in 1974 through Trans Time, a company founded in 1972 by activist members of the American Cryonics Society (then BACS). This was followed by a succession of additional suspensions and ongoing research into methods of preservation and procedures for maintaining tissue, organs, and organisms at liquid nitrogen temperature.

Starting in 1974 ACS-sponsored research into establishing suspension procedures included development of "blood substitutes" and flushes to replace the blood in cryonic patients with a solution which had cryoprotective properties. Dr. Paul Segall was the chief researcher, and following a technological report that members of the press viewed as significant, Dr. Segall, Dr. Richard Marsh, and Avi Ben-Abraham, MD, appeared on [[Good Morning America]], The [[Phil Donahue Show]], The Sally Jessy Raphael Show, and made many other popular media appearances.
In 1987 Dr. Avi Ben-Abraham was elected as Chairman, President and Governor of the American Cryonics Society and led the society for over a decade. A prominent physician and scientist, Dr. Ben-Abraham brought a high degree of respectability and public attention to ACS. During his tenure, cryonics research received a major boost and, and the scientific progress made by ACS's scientists, was featured in the New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post and on the cover of Leaders magazine among others. Ben-Abraham was featured on several prestigious television programs in the US and overseas, including CBS's 48 Hours and 60 Minutes, The Joan Rivers Show, CNBC Live and on a special BBC television documentary.

American Cryonics Society researchers would later develop commercial organ preservation solutions, based in part on ACS-sponsored research.
In May 1988, ACS researchers , Paul Segal, Hal Sternberg, Harry Weitz and Avi Ben-Abraham, authored a scientific paper, "Interventive Gerentology, Cloning, and Cryonics: Relevance to Life Extension," that was published in ''Biomedical Advances in Aging'' and edited by Allan L. Goldstein. The team presented this paper at a symposium held at George Washington University. The inclusion of this paper in a publication of serious academic inquiry properly identifies cryonics as scientific discipline.

Concurrent with biological research, the American Cryonics Society established financial and managerial policy to better safeguard the funds of members in suspension. This included funding through life insurance and conservative estimates of suspension and maintenance costs to ensure adequate funding. In 1981, the American Cryonics Society employed [[Lawyer|attorney]] Jim Bianchi to develop model trust and model will documents for people who wished suspension. Mr. Bianchi also researched the legal basis for cryonics, and developed a set of related documents.

In 1978, the Cryonics Society of America researchers collaborated with [[Jerry Leaf]] of Cryovita Laboratories in experiments that would apply the methodology to cryonic suspensions that were then in use as surgical procedures to treat patients with heart disease. Thus a team led by a thoracic surgeon and a perfusionist would use cardio-pulmonary resuscitation equipment and blood-pumps to quickly cool a patient, and replace his blood with a blood substitute containing cryoprotectants. For several years thereafter, Cryovita Laboratories led by Jerry Leaf and Mike Darwin, were responsible for the initial cryonic suspension of patients of the American Cryonics Society, which were then perfused, transported, and kept in cryogenic storage by Trans Time.<ref name="cryonics institution"/> This method of making use of contract companies as a means of risk management was unique to the American Cryonics Society and has been followed to the present day.

In 1992, the American Cryonics Society signed contracts with the newly formed CryoSpan Corporation and transferred a number of patients to that Southern California facility, as well as making use of CryoSpan services for a number of new patients. At about this same time it contracted with BioPreservation Inc., operated by [[Mike Darwin]], to perform the standby and initial suspension of the Cryonics Society of America members. The American Cryonics Society also purchased suspension and “first response” equipment from Darwin and other suppliers to enable the American Cryonics Society to freeze its own members, to supplement its employment of contract companies.

In 2002 when CryoSpan opted to close down its long-term cryogenic storage operations, 10 ACS patients and a number of pets were transferred to the [[Cryonics Institute]] (CI) facility in [[Michigan]].<ref name="cryonics history">{{cite web
|url=http://www.cryonics.org/immortalist/november08/History.pdf
|last=Best
|first=Ben
|work=The Immortalist
|year=2008
|publisher=Cryonics Institute
|accessdate=2009-08-24
|title=A History of Cryonics
|deadurl=yes
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628112826/http://www.cryonics.org/immortalist/november08/History.pdf
|archivedate=2013-06-28
}}</ref> The American Cryonics Society had contracted with CI for the long-term [[cryogenic]] storage of a number of other members prior to the 2002 patient transfer. The ACS inspects CI yearly to ensure ACS quality standards are met.<ref name="revival assets">{{cite news
|url=http://www.cryonics.org/immortalist/july08/Rassets.pdf
|last=Best
|first=Ben
|work=The Immortalist
|year=2008
|publisher=Cryonics Institute
|accessdate=2009-08-26
|title=Revival Assets Seminar
|deadurl=yes
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123053538/http://www.cryonics.org/immortalist/july08/Rassets.pdf
|archivedate=2008-11-23
}}</ref> The extra funds charged to ACS members beyond CI minimums could be used for moving the patients in the future if necessary, or other uses.<ref name="revival assets"/>

In 2004, the American Cryonics Society signed a contract with Suspended Animation, a [[Florida]] based company, and in the same year Suspended Animation performed a stand-by and suspension on an ACS member living in Florida at the time of his death. The patient was then transported to the CI Facility in Michigan for long-term cryogenic storage. When circumstances warrant, [[Neurovitrification|neural vitrification]] technology may also be applied to ACS subjects by CI personnel prior to long-term cryogenic storage.

==Policies==
The American Cryonics Society is managed by a seven-person Board of Governors. Governors must themselves be full members, and are expected to have made suspension arrangements. Funds are managed by professional funds managers. As a further safeguard, a sponsor is designated for each person in suspension, to review financial records and cold-storage procedures.

The Cryonics Society of America works cooperatively with the Cryonics Institute and supports the research program of that organization. Most ACS (frozen) members are in suspension at the CI facility. The agreement with CI calls for the American Cryonics Society to have inspection authority, and to have the right to remove ACS subjects from that facility should the American Cryonics Society warrant that such removal is warranted and beneficial. Such subject would then be transferred to another facility. All ACS subjects are fully funded to CI’s specification, and in addition, funds to benefit the subjects are maintained by the American Cryonics Society. This funding plan provides a double safety net against the possible financial insolvency of either CI or ACS.

The American Cryonics Society encourages members and the public in
general to subscribe to the [[Immortalist Society|Immortalist Magazine]]. This bi-monthly [[magazine]] is devoted to discussion of cryonics activities, especially those of the Cryonics Institute where most patients of the American Cryonics Society are in long term cryogenic storage.

==Scope==
The American Cryonics Society welcomes members from any country, however the level of service that a member can expect in most countries outside the [[United States|US]] and [[Canada]] is limited, and in many cases the member himself, sometimes working with other cryonics advocates, must work to make local arrangements. Even then, given so much uncertainty, the American Cryonics Society can make no guarantees.

==Perspective==
The cryonics movement, which started with the publication of [[Robert Ettinger]]’s book ''The Prospect of Immortality'' in 1964, is still treated as a curiosity by most people, though cryonics continues to gain in acceptance by both the general public, and the scientific community.<ref>{{cite web
| author = 61 Scientists
| title = Scientists' Open Letter on Cryonics
| url = http://www.imminst.org/cryonics_letter/
| accessdate = 22 May 2012 }}</ref> Given the small number of people in suspension, and the incidents of patients lost to carelessness or accident in the past, the risk management approach to cryonics followed by the American Cryonics Society is warranted. That said, the extant cryonics organizations appear to have stability not always present in the past, and there have been no recent incidents of lost patients.


In 1978, the Cryonics Society of America researchers collaborated with [[Jerry Leaf]] of Cryovita Laboratories in experiments that would apply the methodology to cryonic suspensions that were then in use as surgical procedures to treat patients with heart disease. Thus a team led by a thoracic surgeon and a perfusionist would use cardio-pulmonary resuscitation equipment and blood-pumps to quickly cool a patient, and replace his blood with a blood substitute containing cryoprotectants. For several years thereafter, Cryovita Laboratories led by Jerry Leaf and Mike Darwin, were responsible for the initial cryonic suspension of patients of the American Cryonics Society, which were then perfused, transported, and kept in cryogenic storage by Trans Time.<ref name="cryonics institution" />
There are (perhaps) 1,800 people with pre-need cryonics arrangements in place; however many of these people are young and not apt to need services for many years. As of the end of 2010, there are about 220 bodies now frozen. These numbers include members and frozen bodies from all organizations, in all countries. Almost half of them are at the [[Alcor Life Extension Foundation|Alcor]] facility, and half at the CI facility (which includes the patients of the American Cryonics Society). A couple of subjects are at Trans Time and KrioRus, and we will include in our count the dry ice storage of [[Frozen Dead Guy Days|Mr. Bredo Morstoel]], in [[Nederland, Colorado]], though many cryonicists argue that because of the warmer storage temperature of Mr. Morstoel, he should not be counted as a "patient." Since the patients at the CI facility are almost all whole body patients (as opposed to head only), the volume of biological material at the CI facility is far greater than at the other facilities.


In 2002 when CryoSpan opted to close down its long-term cryogenic storage operations, 10 ACS patients and a number of pets were transferred to the [[Cryonics Institute]] (CI) facility in [[Michigan]].<ref name="cryonics history" /> The American Cryonics Society had contracted with CI for the long-term [[cryogenic]] storage of a number of other members prior to the 2002 patient transfer. The ACS inspects CI yearly to ensure ACS quality standards are met.<ref name="revival assets">{{Cite news |last=Best |first=Ben |year=2008 |title=Revival Assets Seminar |url=http://www.cryonics.org/immortalist/july08/Rassets.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123053538/http://www.cryonics.org/immortalist/july08/Rassets.pdf |archive-date=2008-11-23 |access-date=2009-08-26 |work=The Immortalist |publisher=Cryonics Institute}}</ref> The extra funds charged to ACS members beyond CI minimums could be used for moving the patients in the future if necessary, or other uses.<ref name="revival assets" />
From 1974 to present, only one American Cryonics Society body has had to be transferred out of long-term cold storage. In that case the transfer was following a request made by the patient’s family, apparently for financial reasons. The patient was then preserved by chemical means. However, there have been several patients "converted" from whole-body to "neuro" because of funding concerns. The American Cryonics Society members either pre-approve or opt out of such arrangements as part of their contract. There have been no incidents in ACS history of embezzlement or loss of any patient funds.


==See also==
==See also==
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
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{{Cryonics}}
{{Cryonics}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Cryonics organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Cryonics organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in California]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in California]]
[[Category:Medical and health organizations based in California‎]]
[[Category:Medical and health organizations based in California]]

Latest revision as of 19:47, 4 August 2024

American Cryonics Society
FoundedDecember 10, 1969; 55 years ago (1969-12-10)
FounderDr. M. Coleman Harris, Edgar Swank, Dr. Grace Talbot, Jerome B. White[1]
94-2398719
Registration no.C0587199
FocusCryonics
Location
Coordinates37°22′17.1048″N 122°2′8.718″W / 37.371418000°N 122.03575500°W / 37.371418000; -122.03575500
Websiteamericancryonics.org
Formerly called
Bay Area Cryonics Society

The American Cryonics Society (ACS), also known as the Cryonics Society of America, is a member-run, California-based, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization that supports and promotes research and education into cryonics and cryobiology. The American Cryonics Society is the oldest cryonics organization still in existence.[2]

History

[edit]

The American Cryonics Society was first incorporated in 1969 in San Francisco as the Bay Area Cryonics Society (BACS);[3] its name was changed to the American Cryonics Society in 1985. The founding of the company followed over two years of organizational meetings by cryonics activists. Signers of the founding charter included two well-known Bay Area physicians, Dr. M. Coleman Harris, and Dr. Grace Talbot. The 1969 incorporation date makes it the oldest cryonics society still in existence. The Immortalist Society (IS), with which the American Cryonics Society works closely, is a successor to the Cryonics Society of Michigan whose founding predates that of the American Cryonics Society. [4]

In 1978, the Cryonics Society of America researchers collaborated with Jerry Leaf of Cryovita Laboratories in experiments that would apply the methodology to cryonic suspensions that were then in use as surgical procedures to treat patients with heart disease. Thus a team led by a thoracic surgeon and a perfusionist would use cardio-pulmonary resuscitation equipment and blood-pumps to quickly cool a patient, and replace his blood with a blood substitute containing cryoprotectants. For several years thereafter, Cryovita Laboratories led by Jerry Leaf and Mike Darwin, were responsible for the initial cryonic suspension of patients of the American Cryonics Society, which were then perfused, transported, and kept in cryogenic storage by Trans Time.[3]

In 2002 when CryoSpan opted to close down its long-term cryogenic storage operations, 10 ACS patients and a number of pets were transferred to the Cryonics Institute (CI) facility in Michigan.[4] The American Cryonics Society had contracted with CI for the long-term cryogenic storage of a number of other members prior to the 2002 patient transfer. The ACS inspects CI yearly to ensure ACS quality standards are met.[5] The extra funds charged to ACS members beyond CI minimums could be used for moving the patients in the future if necessary, or other uses.[5]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Swank, Edgar (October 2010). "The top 13 reasons to join ACS". Retrieved February 11, 2011.
  2. ^ Guynn, Jessica (2002). "Techies go for ice-cold afterlife". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Mondragon, Carlos (1994). "Defining the Cryonics Institution". Cryonics and Life Extension Conference. Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Best, Ben (2008). "A History of Cryonics". The Immortalist. Cryonics Institute.[self-published source?]
  5. ^ a b Best, Ben (2008). "Revival Assets Seminar" (PDF). The Immortalist. Cryonics Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
[edit]
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