On Saturday, April 12 (2014) I was an invited speaker at the AltraVita in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic in Moscow.
https://en.wikipedia...o_fertilisation
http://fertility.tre...a-Moscow-Russia
Professor Sergey Yakovenko, who is Director of the clinic, extended an invitation to my KrioRus hosts to speak on cryonics to his students.
http://www.pinterest...83605047139374/
My KrioRus hosts were the two key people involve in management of KrioRus: Danila Medvedev and Valerija Pride, both of whom attended this lecture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KrioRus
Also attending was a representative of the Moscow Fyodorov Museum and Library (which I had visited 20 years previously), who sat next to Valerija.
https://en.wikipedia...rovich_Fyodorov
Fyodorov is the patron saint of the Church of Perpetual Life in Florida
http://www.churchofperpetuallife.org/
Valerija told me that I would be speaking to some biophysics students. Considering the audience, I decided to make the focus of my lecture the vitrification of organs from the point of view of physical chemistry -- although I made clear that the cryobiologicial problems in organ preservation are the very similar to those of cryonics. Many of the students are (according to Dr. Yakovenko) very interested in doing research on cryobiological problems. It was my hope that I could inspire the students to help solve the number one technical problem in cryonics and organ cryopreservation, namely cryoprotectant toxicity.
Valerija introduced me to the students, and Danila acted as translator. Unfortunately, I had removed my knit cap when entering the building (it was a cold April day in Moscow) which made me look like a mad scientist. I hope this did not cause the students to associate cryonics with pseudoscience. From the questions they asked at the end of the lecture, they seemed to have a positive attitude toward cryonics. The hostility and contempt displayed by American cryobiologists toward cryonics and cryonicists is apparently not widespread in Russia at present.
A video was made of the entire lecture, which can be found on YouTube
https://www.youtube....6lMtLJ_uU#t=287
After the lecture, Dr. Yakovenko gave us a tour of the AltraVita clinic. AltraVita is apparently the largest IVF clinic in Europe, resulting in 200 live births per month. The clinic also preserves embryos in liquid nitrogen. The equipment and technology is very modern. Sperm are analyzed carefully for defects with high magnification imaging. Sperm without defects are implanted into oocytes under high magnification imaging. It was a very impressive operation.
-- Ben Best
