"Longevity through technology, education, and research"
Organ Cryopreservation Prize
(aka "The Cryoprize")
Announcement of Organ Cryopreservation Prize (aka the "Cryoprize"):
The Immortalist Society is pleased to announce the Organ Cryopreservation Prize (the "Cryoprize"). Proposed several months ago, the purpose of the prize will be to award a minimum of fifty thousand dollars to any individual or group of individuals who are able to place certain mammalian organs at cryogenic temperatures and to transplant those organs for a period of nine months and to show, during that time period, proper clinical function of them. The organs in question are the heart, lung, kidney, liver and pancreas. Other organs may be the subject of research leading to the awarding of the prize if pre-approved by the Immortalist Society. Fundraising is underway now.
Need and Benefit of Organ Cryopreservation Research:
It is a regrettable fact that each year, the need among seriously ill individuals for organ transplants far exceeds the organs available. Any attempt to increase the capability of organ storage is directly applicable to this important problem. Further, even in the event of the ability to clone and/or grow individual organs, the problem of storage until those organs are needed is still an important one to solve. Any such work done in the field of cryobiology (low temperature biology), and especially work in this field involving ultra-low temperatures, has direct implications in the area of cryonics since cryonicists are storing human organs and tissue at these same ultra low temperatures. One way to make a positive contribution to this area is in the setting up of a prize for attempts in this field of endeavor.
Information and Some Background on Prizes:
Prizes have a long and interesting history. In the early 1700's the British government established a prize for the first person who was able to find a way to establish the longitude of a ship's position within a certain margin of error. Later in that same century, the French established a prize for the production of an artificial form of alkali. Later on the French, in the form of Napoleon, set up a prize for food preservation that, today, we all benefit from in the form of vacuum packaged foodstuffs we readily use.
Newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, were involved in the development of the early automotive industry by offering prizes for various races. In aviation, prizes have also played an interesting part. One of the more interesting, and lesser known, was the offer of a series of prizes which led to the development of the Spitfire aircraft. This aircraft wound up successfully battling the Luftwaffe in the fight for freedom in the Battle of Britain during the dark days of early WWII.
In general, prizes may allow an important goal to be chosen without having to specify exactly the approach or approaches and/or the particular individuals that are deemed most likely to succeed. Further, the use of a prize allows the organization sponsoring it to pay only for results and not necessarily for the cost of getting to the result. Another good point, and useful factor of prizes, is that they can capture the imagination of the public and change the public's concept of what is possible.
One of the other positive things about a prize is that the investment needed in order to win a prize is normally quite a bit greater than the prize itself. Another positive point to prizes is that, at times, a prize assumes a life of its own where the winning of the prize and the prestige of winning it assumes a major importance far beyond the actual economic value of the prize or award itself.
In the case of the Immortalist Society, the initial amount to be raised before the prize is fully implemented will be fifty thousand dollars. It should be noted that this is a "floor" and not necessarily a "ceiling". An amount may be raised that is greater than that and, of course, the initial amount of fifty thousand dollars will continue to grow through interest received and proper investment down through the upcoming years. That being said, some of the literature on prizes indicates that too large of a prize can seem to scare off many smaller competitors who are concerned they don't have the resources to compete. Given how science operates, the smaller competitors may be the most successful ones. In a well known example, Samuel P. Langley was well educated and well funded in his attempts to build a heavier than air powered flying machine. Turns out he was bested in his efforts by two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio.
To Donate to the Organ
Cryopreservation Prize Fund
To make a donation to the Organ Cryopreservation Prize Fund, you have several options:
1) You can make a direct donation through PayPal by going to their website of www.paypal.com. Make your donation to firstname.lastname@example.org. You can also use the handy buttons below. Just click on the one you need. Make sure you have the e-mail and password that you use for Paypal readily available. (You can also use Paypal to make a donation with VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. Just look near the bottom at the lower left of the Paypal page that the buttons will take you to. Thanks!)
To cancel your monthly subscription, please go to www.paypal.com. You will need to log in your account so make sure you have your e-mail address and password available!
2) You can use a credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express) manually just by calling The Immortalist Society at (586) 791−5961. Please have your credit card information handy.
3) You can mail your money order or check to to the Immortalist Society at 24355 Sorrentino Court, Clinton Township, Michigan 48035-3229.
4) You can donate via Facebook by clicking here.
Donations are tax deductible under the United States Federal Tax Code
(For those who came to the donation information by a direct link, more info on the organ cryopreservation prize, and some info on the use of prizes in general, can be had by clicking here. Those interested in reading the rules of the prize may click here.)
Thanks so very, very much for your interest and help in furthering one of the research aims of the Immortalist Society. Scientific research has been the "mother's milk" of much of the progress of mankind. The determination of thousands of people down through the ages to understand the origins of sickness and death and to fight against these two scourges of mankind have been the reason that so many of us today benefit from the marvelous advances in medical science. Those of us in the Immortalist Society feel that our efforts in setting up the Organ Cryopreservation Prize are just another step in that long and honorable tradition. By contributing to this effort, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are trying to be of assistance in a very worthy cause.
For those interested in competing for the awarding of the prize, the prize rules are as follows: (NOTE: THESE RULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PREVIOUS NOTICE)
Prize Rules As of Oct. 19, 2012:
The rules of the prize are as follows:
After the raising of a minimum of fifty thousand dollars, said amount which is to be placed in savings and/or investment at the general direction of the Board of Directors of the Immortalist Society, the following conditions and requirements shall apply to the awarding of the Immortalist Society Cryopreservation Prize:
1) The prize amount awarded will be a minimum of $50,000.
2) It shall be awarded to the first person or group that successfully and verifiably brings a mammalian heart, lung, liver, kidney, or pancreas to a cryogenic temperature (any temperature that can be demonstrated to permit storage of said organ with virtually no change or decay over hundreds of years--typically approximately -120 Celsius or colder). Other complete internal mammalian organs as preapproved by the Immortalist Society may be considered as valid for purposes of winning the award. All organs used in experimental work must be at least ten grams or greater in weight. The Immortalist Society will not accept skin or other "simple" organs for the purposes of the awarding of this prize. At present, again, the organs eligible for successful awarding of the prize are mammalian heart, lung, liver, kidney, or pancreas. Individuals interested in utilizing other organs in an attempt to win the prize should contact the Immortalist Society for preapproval of their choice.
3) Any said organ mentioned in Requirement Number Two immediately above shall be stored at said temperature for a minimum of three hours.
4). Said organ mentioned in Requirement Number Two shall then be transplanted back into an animal and shall show said organ to be sufficiently non-injured to perform its normal biological function at a clinically acceptable level for a period of not less than nine months after transplantation.
5) The research individual or group must verifiably reproduce the positive results mentioned above at least one time after the first one, using no materials from the initial success OR must provide the method used so that another individual or team can and does duplicate, and thereby verify the procedure using no materials from the initial success. The individual or team attempting to verify and duplicate the initial success can be chosen by the original research individual or group provided that said verification individual or team is acceptable to the Immortalist Society or its chosen representative, if any.
6) All experimental work done shall follow generally accepted principles, laws, and regulations for the humane treatment of experimental animals as are in place in the United States of America and in the State of Michigan during the time of any experiments carried out. The Immortalist Society reserves the right to add to/modify said principles at its discretion so far as they do not conflict with existing United States laws and regulations or laws and regulations of the State of Michigan.
7) These rules can be modified or amended at any time by the Immortalist Society or its chosen representative, if any, if it is determined, in their sole discretion, that such modification(s) or amendment(s) is/are necessary to fulfill the intent of the prize.
8) Applications for the prize must be made by United States Postal Service Certified Mail or a generally equivalent means to the Society or its chosen representative, if any. The rules in place on the date of the receipt of the application shall be the rules governing the awarding of the prize.
9) The sole discretion as to the interpretation of the rules, and any matters concerning the Organ Cryopreservation Prize and/or any associated matters whatsoever, shall remain with the Immortalist Society or its designated representatives, if any. All decisions that are made by the Immortalist Society or its designated representatives, if any, regarding any aspect of the prize and the award thereof will be final.
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