Cryogenic Stasis - Why wouldn't it work?

[Cepheus]

Before I begin, let me say that it\'s very likely that nothing that succeeds this statement wil make any sense, whatsoever.

Alright. Let\'s begin.

To begin, I\'m not going to let you make any assumptions about what you think I\'m talking about. \'Cryogenic Stasis,\' in this respect, refers to freezing a living organism, and allowing that organism to survive the event. This freezing could be for a number of reasons: hibernation, suspended animation, or natural cryopreservation. This \'natural cryopreservation,\' in layman\'s terms, is to help an organism survive conditions that it normally could not. There are several organisms known to use this technique: waterbears, five species of frogs, three species of turtles, one species of salamander, and one species of snake. Now, these animals don\'t just go out and stick themselves in the snow, doing that would cause nasty ice crystals. To prevent those crystals, they use an antifreeze - sugar. (to be technical, it\'s glucose.) It\'s the same stuff that keeps your Slushie from being a solid block of flavored water.

Tl:dr?

Some animals freeze solid. How? Sugar.

.

Now, to the actual query. To my understanding, we haven\'t figured out how to do this with mammals. Why is that? It\'s relatively simple in concept. The organisms that freeze solid use sugar. Why can\'t other mammals? In essence, why can\'t we mash together hypothermia, an induced coma, and a very controlled stream of nutrients, and get the same result?

Of course, I may very well be in a mild delirium, and not have understood a damn thing that I just typed.

[Phoxtane]

The bark beetle that\'s such a problem here in Wyoming uses an antifreeze technique when it\'s hibernating in a tree over the winter... it takes temperatures of at least -30 deg. F to kill \'em off.

I suspect that this is possible precisely because they\'re so small, and thus much less complex. There\'s a lower chance of things going wrong.

[Guest Flixxbeatz]

Human + Too many sugars = Diabetes

[Guest GroundHOG-2010]

Ice forms inbetween cells sometimes, although that may have been worked out. Blood flow is stopped, and the heart stops beating, so legal death is decleared in this situation, causing the idea of murder or assisted suicide (reasons the growth of Cryonics is slow).

Note its not Cryogenic Stasis, its Cryopreservation and/or Cryonics.

[RulerOfNothing]

Firstly, many things that are 'simple in concept' turn out to be difficult or impossible in practice. I am going to consider why exactly this is the case, but I think my statement is amply supported by the experiences of everybody on this forum. Secondly, I do not believe (based on my limited knowledge of medical science) that we are particularly good at reviving clinically dead people, which is what a thawed body would count as. Thirdly, I must admit to finding it a little odd that no-one is trying to cryopreserve small mammals (which we humans are rather closely related to in terms of biochemistry) and then revive them at a later date. I find this odd because I think that doing such tests would extend our knowledge regarding how to protect mammalian biochemistry from the rigours of cryopreservation, and that such tests could be run quickly and cheaply.

[Dr. Gonzo]

As mentioned in the OP; when you try to freeze a body, ice crystals will form among the cells. As the crystals expand, they will tear and rupture the cell walls. Glucose is the secret antifreeze that allows some organisms to go through this process without any issues. It works pretty much just like your car would; you put antifreeze in, and even though everything is frozen solid, liquid will still flow normally and allow your car to run. In the same way, glucose acts as an antifreeze and keeps the liquids in the body flowing despite the body being frozen.

When it comes to humans though, the levels of glucose that certain frogs and fish use to undergo this process is enough to be fatal for any human being. From what I understand, it is totally possible for human beings to be frozen with cryogenics, and then revived. But it would take genetic engineering in order to make the human body capable of holding the high ratio of glucose required to survive the freezing.

[RedDwarfIV]

Hedgehogs hibernate.

[Cepheus]

In response to the fact that such a high level of glucose would be enough to kill a person, there are two theoretical alternatives: along with the glucose, introduce a powerful insulin - like substance; or use a completely different antifreeze altogether. Of course, I have extremely limited knowledge on the subject, and can\'t be more specific on either.

[Guest GroundHOG-2010]

In response to the fact that such a high level of glucose would be enough to kill a person, there are two theoretical alternatives: along with the glucose, introduce a powerful insulin - like substance; or use a completely different antifreeze altogether. Of course, I have extremely limited knowledge on the subject, and can\'t be more specific on either.

They have developed another type of antifreeze for this sort of thing, but whether it would work on living things is a different question.