Cryobiology: Low Temperature Studies Of Biological Systems

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Cryobiology: Low Temperature Studies Of Biological Systems

Thesis: Low temperature biology, or cryobiology, has the possibility, and may very easily and very drastically affect everyones' lives in the future. Through rapidly approaching cryobiological medical procedures and techniques, the presence of intense ethical issues may play an important role in many everyday decisions that do not now exist.

Introduction

What is cryobiology? It is "the study of the effects of freezing and low temperatures on living organisms" (Read, 1999). While the main focus of cryobiology is on living organisms (as suggested above), cryobiological techniques have been expanded to include treatment of nonliving things as well. This addition of non-living objects has expanded the focus to not only include plants, animals, and humans, but also to include machinery and other metal objects.

A common synonym of cryobiology is "cryogenics". According to the New American Desk Encyclopedia (1989), cryogenics is defined as "the branch of physics dealing with the behavior of matter at very low temperatures, and with the production of those temperatures." As can be seen, cryogenics is a slightly more focused study of the cryobiological field dealing primarily with production methods of those freezing temperatures. Another sub-study field, if you will, is that of cryonics. Cryonics is defined as

the practice of freezing humans who are not curable by current medical technology, in the hope that ways may be found to bring them back to life at some future time when ways of repairing the damage caused by the freezing process have been developed, as well as cures of the diseases or other causes of death which necessitated their cryonics suspension (Cryogenics International, 1999).

As suggested above, cryobiology is primarily centered on the effects on those living organisms or non-living objects, although the methods and procedures are also very important. All around the world new and improved techniques are being tested to make this a better medical and preservational procedure. Not only are the different techniques and procedures getting increased attention, but also many accompanying controversial issues are as well. Low temperature biology, or cryobiology, has the possibility to very easily and very drastically affect everyoneís lives in the future. Through rapidly approaching cryobiological medical procedures and techniques, the presence of intense ethical issues may play an important role in many everyday decisions that do not now exist.

Cryobiology Techniques

There are many different cryobiological techniques that exist and are being used today.

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