Alcor Life Extension Foundation
Encyclopedia
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based nonprofit company that researches, advocates for and performs cryonics
Cryonics
Cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of humans and animals who can no longer be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation of people or large animals is not reversible with current technology...
, the preservation of humans in liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen is nitrogen in a liquid state at a very low temperature. It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. Liquid nitrogen is a colourless clear liquid with density of 0.807 g/mL at its boiling point and a dielectric constant of 1.4...
after legal death
Legal death
Legal death is a legal pronouncement by a qualified person that further medical care is not appropriate and that a patient should be considered dead under the law. The specific criteria used to pronounce legal death are variable and often depend on certain circumstances in order to pronounce a...
, with hopes of restoring them to full health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
when new technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
is developed in the future.
As of July 31, 2011, Alcor had 955 members, and 106 patients in cryopreservation
Cryopreservation
Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperatures, such as 77 K or −196 °C . At these low temperatures, any biological activity, including the biochemical reactions that would lead to cell death, is effectively stopped...
, many as neuropatients
Neuropreservation
Neuropreservation is cryopreservation of the human brain with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around the brain. Usually the brain is left within the head for physical protection, so the whole head is cryopreserved...
(73 of Alcor patients were neuropatients or brain preservation patients as of July 2011). Alcor does also preserve pets, but this requires that the owner itself has made arrangements for cryopreservation. As of November 15, 2007, there were 33 pets in suspension.
Alcor accepts anatomical donations (cryonics cases) under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act , and its periodic revisions, is one of the Uniform Acts drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in the United States with the intention of harmonizing state laws in force in the states.UAGA governs organ donations for the purpose...
and Arizona Anatomical Gift Act for research purposes, reinforced by a court case in its favor that affirmed a constitutional
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
right to engage in cryopreservation and donate one's body for the purpose. A form of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act has been passed in all 50 states.
History
The largest cryonics organization today, in terms of membership, was established as a nonprofit organizationNonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
by Fred and Linda Chamberlain
Fred and Linda Chamberlain
Frederick Rockwell Chamberlain III and his wife Linda are the founders of the cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Their long and continued history of activism in cryonics make them among the most well-known cryonics pioneers...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1972 as the Alcor Society for Solid State Hypothermia (ALCOR). Alcor was named after a faint star
Mizar (star)
The Mizar–Alcor stellar sextuple system consists of the quadruple system Mizar and the binary system Alcor.- Description :Mizar is a quadruple system of two binary stars in the constellation Ursa Major and is the second star from the end of the Big Dipper's handle. Its apparent magnitude is 2.23...
in the Big Dipper
Big Dipper
The Plough, also known as the Big Dipper or the Saptarishi , is an asterism of seven stars that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial...
. The name was changed to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in 1977. The organization was conceived as a rational, technology-oriented cryonics organization that would be managed on a fiscally conservative basis. Alcor advertised in direct mailings and offered seminars in order to attract members and bring attention to the cryonics movement. The first of these seminars attracted 30 people.
On July 16, 1976, Alcor performed its first human cryopreservation on Fred Chamberlain's father. That same year, research in cryonics began with initial funding provided by the Manrise Corporation. At that time, Alcor’s office consisted of a mobile surgical unit in a large van. Trans Time, Inc., a cryonics organization in the San Francisco Bay area, provided initial preservation procedures and long-term patient storage until Alcor began doing its own storage in 1982.
In 1977, articles of incorporation were filed in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
by the Institute for Advanced Biological Studies (IABS) and Soma, Inc. IABS was a nonprofit research startup led by a young cryonics enthusiast named Steve Bridge, while Soma was intended as a for-profit organization to provide cryopreservation and human storage services. Its president, Mike Darwin
Mike Darwin
Michael G. Darwin, also known as Michael Federowicz, was the president of the cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation from 1983 to 1988, and Research Director until 1992...
, subsequently became a president of Alcor. Bridge filled the same position many years later. IABS and Soma relocated to California in 1981. Soma was disbanded, while IABS merged with Alcor in 1982.
In 1978, Cryovita Laboratories was founded by Jerry Leaf
Jerry Leaf
Jerry Donnell Leaf was Vice President and Director of the cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation, and President of the cryonics service firm Cryovita, Inc., until his cryopreservation by Alcor following a fatal heart attack in 1991.Leaf fought in special operations during the...
, who had been teaching surgery at UCLA. Cryovita was a for-profit organization which provided cryopreservation and transport services for Alcor in the 1980s until Leaf's death, at which time Alcor began providing these services on its own. Leaf and Michael Darwin collaborated to bring the first cryonics patient, Dr. James Bedford
James Bedford
James Hiram Bedford was a University of California psychology professor who had written several books on occupational counseling. He is the first person whose body was cryonically preserved after legal death, and who remains cryopreserved...
, who was preserved in 1967, to Alcor's California facility in 1982.
During this time, Leaf also collaborated with Michael Darwin in a series of hypothermia experiments in which dogs were resuscitated with no measurable neurological deficit after hours in deep hypothermia, just a few degrees above zero Celsius. The blood substitute which was developed for these experiments became the basis for the washout solution used at Alcor. Together, Leaf and Darwin developed a standby-transport model for human cryonics cases with the goal of intervening immediately after cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
and minimizing ischemic injury. Leaf was cryopreserved by Alcor in 1991; since 1992, Alcor has provided its own cryopreservation as well as patient-storage services. Today, Alcor is the only full-service cryonics organization that performs remote standbys.
Alcor grew slowly in its early years. In 1984, it merged with the Cryonics Society of South Florida. Alcor counted only 50 members in 1985, which was the year it cryopreserved its third patient. However, during this time researchers associated with Alcor contributed some of the most important techniques related to cryopreservation, eventually leading to today's method of vitrification
Glass transition
The liquid-glass transition is the reversible transition in amorphous materials from a hard and relatively brittle state into a molten or rubber-like state. An amorphous solid that exhibits a glass transition is called a glass...
.
Increasing growth in membership during this period is partially attributed to the 1986 publication of Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation
Engines of Creation
Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology is a 1986 molecular nanotechnology book written by K. Eric Drexler with a foreword by Marvin Minsky. An updated version was released in 2007...
, which debuted the idea of nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
and contained a chapter on cryonics. In 1986, a group of Alcor members formed Symbex, a small investment company which funded a building in Riverside
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, for lease by Alcor. Alcor moved from Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
, to the new building in Riverside in 1987; Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
appeared at the grand opening. Alcor cryopreserved a member’s companion animal in 1986, and two people in 1987. Three human cases were handled in 1988, including the first whole body patient of Alcor's, and one in 1989. At that time, Alcor owned 20% interest in Symbex, with a goal of 51% ownership. In September 1988, Leary announced that he had signed up with Alcor, becoming the first celebrity to become an Alcor member. Leary later switched to a different cryonics organization, CryoCare, and then changed his mind altogether. Alcor's Vice-President, Director, head of suspension team and chief surgeon, Jerry Leaf, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1991.
By 1990, Alcor had grown to 300 members and outgrown its California headquarters, which was the largest cryonics facility in the world. The organization wanted to remain in Riverside County, but in response to concerns that the California facility was also vulnerable to earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
risk, the organization purchased a building in Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in 1993 and moved its patients to it in 1994.
Alcor has held seven conferences on life extension technologies, with speakers such as Eric Drexler, Ralph Merkle
Ralph Merkle
Ralph C. Merkle is a researcher in public key cryptography, and more recently a researcher and speaker on molecular nanotechnology and cryonics...
, Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author...
, Timothy Leary, and Michael D. West
Michael D. West
Dr. Michael D. West is CEO of Biotime, of Alameda, California, a company engaged in stem cell research and development, development of low temperature medicine , and development of artificial blood plasma solutions for the treatment for blood loss due to trauma and elective surgery...
.
Research
In 2001, Alcor adapted cryoprotectant formulas from published scientific literature into a more concentrated formula capable of achieving ice-free preservation (vitrification) of the human brain (neurovitrificationNeurovitrification
Neurovitrification is the term that refers to vitrification of only the human brain , usually with the intention of neuropreservation. The term is used in cryonics....
). In 2005, the vitrification process was applied to the first whole-body subject (as opposed to brain-only). This resulted in vitrification of the brain and conventional cryopreservation of the rest of the body. Work is continuing towards achieving whole-body vitrification, which is limited by the ability to fully circulate the cryoprotectant throughout the body. The vitrification used since 2000 was switched to what Alcor said was a superior solution in 2005. Canadian businessman, Robert Miller
Robert Miller (Future Electronics)
Robert Miller, born about 1946, is a Canadian businessman who founded Future Electronics in 1968 and built it into the world's third-largest electronics distributor. With an estimated net worth of $US 2.5 billion , Miller was ranked by Forbes as the 10th wealthiest Canadian and 459th in the world....
, founder of Future Electronics, has provided research funding to Alcor in the past.
Policies and procedures
Alcor is governed by a self-perpetuating board of directors. Alcor's Scientific Advisory Board currently consists of Antonei CsokaAntonei Csoka
Antonei B. Csoka, Ph.D. is a biogerontologist at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute who works on the molecular biology of aging.-Research:He was a member of the consortium that identified the Lamin A gene as the cause of the accelerated aging disease Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome...
, Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author...
, Robert Freitas
Robert Freitas
Robert A. Freitas Jr. is a Senior Research Fellow, one of four researchers at the nonprofit foundation Institute for Molecular Manufacturing in Palo Alto, California. He holds a 1974 Bachelor's degree majoring in both physics and psychology from Harvey Mudd College, and a 1978 Juris Doctor degree...
, Bart Kosko
Bart Kosko
Bart Andrew Kosko is a writer and professor of electrical engineering and law at the University of Southern California...
, James B. Lewis, Ralph Merkle
Ralph Merkle
Ralph C. Merkle is a researcher in public key cryptography, and more recently a researcher and speaker on molecular nanotechnology and cryonics...
, Marvin Minsky
Marvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...
, Martine Rothblatt
Martine Rothblatt
Martine Aliana Rothblatt Ph.D, MBA, J.D. is an American lawyer, author, and entrepreneur. Rothblatt graduated from UCLA with a combined law and MBA degree in 1981, then began work in Washington, D.C., first in the field of communication satellite law, and eventually in life sciences projects like...
, and Michael D. West
Michael D. West
Dr. Michael D. West is CEO of Biotime, of Alameda, California, a company engaged in stem cell research and development, development of low temperature medicine , and development of artificial blood plasma solutions for the treatment for blood loss due to trauma and elective surgery...
. Alcor also maintains a medical advisory board consisting of medical doctors.
Most Alcor patients fund the procedure through life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
policies which name Alcor as the beneficiary. Members who have signed up wear medical alert bracelets informing hospitals and doctors to notify Alcor in case of any emergency; in the case of a person who is known to be near death, Alcor can send a team for remote standby.
In some states, members can sign certificates stating that they wish to decline an autopsy. The cutting of the body organs (especially the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
) and blood vessels required for an autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
makes it difficult to either preserve the body, especially the brain, without damage or perfuse the body with glycerol
Glycerol
Glycerol is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol has three hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. The glycerol backbone is central to all lipids...
. The optimum preservation procedure begins less than one hour after death. Members can specify whether they wish Alcor to attempt to preserve even if an autopsy occurs, or whether they wish to be buried or cremated if an autopsy renders little hope for preservation.
In cases with remote standby, cardiopulmonary support is begun as soon as a patient is declared legally dead. Some patients were not able to receive cardiopulmonary support immediately, but in deference to the possibilities of future technology, these patients have also been preserved with the best techniques available. Alcor has a network of paramedics nationwide and seven surgeons, located in different regions, who are on call 24 hours a day. If an Alcor patient is met by a standby team (usually at a hospital, hospice, or home), the team will perform CPR to maintain blood flow to the brain and organs while simultaneously pumping an organ preservation solution through the veins.
Patients are transported as quickly as possible to Alcor headquarters in Scottsdale, where they undergo final preparations in Alcor's cardiopulmonary bypass lab. Plans are underway for a second operating room to be built. In the Patient Care Bay, patients are monitored by computer sensors while kept in liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen is nitrogen in a liquid state at a very low temperature. It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. Liquid nitrogen is a colourless clear liquid with density of 0.807 g/mL at its boiling point and a dielectric constant of 1.4...
in dewars
Vacuum flask
A vacuum flask is an insulating storage vessel which keeps its contents hotter or cooler than its surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck...
. Liquid nitrogen is refilled on a weekly basis and does not need electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
to operate. Riverside County, California deputy coroner Dan Cupido said that Alcor had better equipment than some medical facilities.
Membership dues cover one-third of Alcor's yearly budget, with donations covering the rest. Alcor receives $50,000 each year from television royalties donated by a sitcom writer and producer who is in suspension. In 1997, after a substantial effort led by then-president Steve Bridge, Alcor formed the Patient Care Trust as an entirely separate entity to manage and protect the funding for cryopatients, including owning the building. Alcor remains the only cryonics organization to segregate and protect patient funding in this way; the 2% annual growth of the Trust is enough for upkeep of the patients. At least $70,000 of the money received for each full-body patient goes into this trust for future patient care, $17,000 for a neuropatient. Alcor is currently working to create an Alcor Model Trust, which would make it easier for members to establish their own Trusts to preserve their assets following legal death and prior to being revived from cryopreservation. Some members have already taken steps to do this on their own. Members can also store possessions deep underground in a Kansas salt mine operated by Underground Vaults & Storage, Inc.
Further information about Alcor policies and procedures is available from their FAQs.
Membership
Members suspended include Dick ClairDick Clair
Dick Clair was an American television producer, actor and television and film writer, best known for the television sitcoms It's a Living, The Facts of Life, and Mama's Family.-Early life:...
, an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning television sitcom writer and producer, Hall of Fame baseball legend Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
and his son John Henry Williams, and futurist FM-2030
FM-2030
FM-2030 was an author, teacher, transhumanist philosopher, futurist and consultant. FM-2030 was born Fereidoun M. Esfandiary ....
. Current members of Alcor include nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
pioneer Eric Drexler, Internet pioneer Ralph Merkle
Ralph Merkle
Ralph C. Merkle is a researcher in public key cryptography, and more recently a researcher and speaker on molecular nanotechnology and cryonics...
, engineer Keith Henson
Keith Henson
Howard Keith Henson is an American electrical engineer and writer on life extension, cryonics, memetics and evolutionary psychology....
and his family, MIT professor Marvin Minsky
Marvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...
, aging researcher Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author...
, mathematician Edward O. Thorp
Edward O. Thorp
Edward Oakley Thorp is an American mathematics professor, author, hedge fund manager, and blackjack player. He was a pioneer in modern applications of probability theory, including the harnessing of very small correlations for reliable financial gain.He was the author of Beat the Dealer, the first...
, computer security CEO Kenneth Weiss, casino owner Don Laughlin
Don Laughlin
Donald J. Laughlin is a gambling entrepreneur, hotelier and rancher for whom the town of Laughlin, Nevada, is named.A native of Owatonna, Minnesota, Laughlin worked winters during his youth as a fur trapper. He took the profits and used them to purchase slot machines for installation in hunting...
, inventor Ray Kurzweil, film director Charles Matthau, futurists Max More
Max More
Max More is a philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on advanced decision-making about emerging technologies....
and Natasha Vita-More
Natasha Vita-More
Natasha Vita-More is a transhumanist, media artist and designer, with a science background, known for designing "Primo Posthuman." This future human prototype incorporates biotechnology, robotics, information technology, nanotechnology, cognitive and neuroscience for human enhancement and extreme...
, entrepreneurs Saul Kent
Saul Kent
Saul Kent is a prominent life extension activist, and co-founder of the Life Extension Foundation, a major dietary supplement vendor and promoter of anti-aging research...
, Luke Nosek
Luke Nosek
Luke Nosek is an American entrepreneur of Polish descent.Nosek received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During college in the summer of 1995, he cofounded SponsorNet New Media, Inc., along with fellow UIUC students Max Levchin and Scott Banister...
, Magali & Stephan Beauregard and Future Electronics founder Robert Miller. Magazine publisher Althea Flynt
Althea Flynt
Althea Flynt , née Leasure, was the fourth wife of Larry Flynt and the co-publisher of Flynt's adult pornography magazine, Hustler....
was signed up to Alcor, but her body was not able to be preserved after her death, which required an autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
. One Alcor member died in the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
in the September 11 attacks.
Membership has grown at a rate of about eight percent a year since Alcor's inception, tripling between 1987 and 1990. The oldest patient at Alcor is a 101-year-old woman, and the youngest is a 18-year-old woman. Alcor has had patients from as far as Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. One in four of its members resides in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
The membership receives Alcor's magazine, Cryonics, published four times a year, but it's also available online for free. Keith Henson
Keith Henson
Howard Keith Henson is an American electrical engineer and writer on life extension, cryonics, memetics and evolutionary psychology....
wrote a column in Cryonics for a few years.
Dora Kent
Before the company moved to Arizona from Riverside, California in 1994, it became a center of controversy when a county coronerCoroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
ruled that Alcor client Dora Kent
Dora Kent
Dora Kent was the object of a 1988 legal controversy about whether she had been murdered to facilitate her cryonic suspension. She was Alcor's eighth patient and the oldest at that time to ever be cryopreserved. She was the mother of Saul Kent, a board member of Alcor...
(Alcor board member Saul Kent
Saul Kent
Saul Kent is a prominent life extension activist, and co-founder of the Life Extension Foundation, a major dietary supplement vendor and promoter of anti-aging research...
's mother) was murdered with barbiturates before her head was removed for neuropreservation
Neuropreservation
Neuropreservation is cryopreservation of the human brain with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around the brain. Usually the brain is left within the head for physical protection, so the whole head is cryopreserved...
by the company's staff. Alcor contended that the drug was administered after her death. No charges were ever filed;http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/DoraKentCase.html former Riverside County
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
deputy coroner Alan Kunzman later claimed that this was due to mistakes and poor decision-making by others in his office.
A judge ruled that Kent was already deceased at the time of preservation, and no foul play was involved. Alcor sued the county for false arrest
False arrest
False arrest is a common law tort, where a plaintiff alleges they were held in custody without probable cause, or without an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction...
and illegal seizure and won both suits. The incident is credited with spurring a growth in membership for Alcor due to the resultant publicity.
Ted Williams
In 2002, Alcor drew considerable attention when baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
star Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
was placed in cryonic suspension; although Alcor maintains privacy of its patients if they wish and did not disclose that Williams was at the Scottsdale facility, the situation came to light in court documents that grew out of an extended family dispute over Williams' wishes in regard to his remains. While Williams' children Claudia and John Henry contended that Williams wished to be preserved at Alcor, their half-sister and oldest Williams child Bobby-Jo Ferrell contested that her father wished to be cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
. Williams' attorney produced a note signed by Williams, John Henry, and Claudia saying: "JHW, Claudia and Dad all agree to be put into biostasis after we die. This is what we want, to be able to be together in the future, even if it is only a chance." John Henry later said, "He was very into science and believed in new technology and human advancement and was a pioneer. Even though things seemed impossible at times, he always knew there was always a chance to catch a fish -- only if you had your fly in the water."
In 2003, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
published allegations by former Alcor COO
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
Larry Johnson
Larry Johnson (author)
Larry Johnson is an American author and former employee of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation , a cryonics company for whom he once served as chief operating officer. He received notoriety with the release of the August 13, 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated...
that the company had mishandled Williams' head by drilling holes and accidentally cracking it. Johnson also claimed that some of Williams' DNA was missing; the article alleges that Williams' son, John Henry Williams, desired to sell some of his father's DNA, a charge John Henry denied. Williams' attorney called the DNA allegations an "absurd proposition" and accused Johnson of trying to grab headlines. Alcor denied the allegations of missing DNA and explained that microscopic cracking can result as part of the process of freezing the head
Neuropreservation
Neuropreservation is cryopreservation of the human brain with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around the brain. Usually the brain is left within the head for physical protection, so the whole head is cryopreserved...
, damage which is less than previous methods using glycerol during cryopreservation; Alcor believes that technology sufficient to revive its patients would also be able to repair the microscopic fractures, which are monitored using a tiny microphone. In the wake of the Sports Illustrated story, Johnson began a paid-membership website where he displayed what he said were photographs of Williams.
John Henry Williams subsequently died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, and his remains are also stored at Alcor. After John Henry's death, Ferrell again filed a lawsuit, but representatives of Williams' estate repeated that he wished to be at Alcor.
1992 death
In addition to his Williams allegations, Johnson handed over to the police a taped conversation in which he claims Alcor facilities engineer Hugh Hixon stated that an Alcor employee deliberately hastened the imminent 1992 death of a terminally ill AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
patient, with an injection of Metubine, a paralytic drug. The nurse who pronounced the 1992 death has denied Johnson's claim that there was any hastening of death. The nurse's claim that the patient died in his bedroom contradicts Alcor's own 1992 case report, in which they state the patient died approximately 30 minutes after they transported him to a makeshift operating room, in a garage. In 2009, Carlos Mondragon, (Alcor's CEO at the time of the incident), told ABC News he had been made aware of the allegations, at the time of the case, and as a result, had severed Alcor's ties with the employee who allegedly hastened the patient's death. Mr. Mondragon failed to inform ABC News that the same person later performed Alcor's surgical procedures, including the neurosuspension of Ted Williams.