The controversy over ＂the first case of human cryopreservation in China＂ has not stopped for one year.
Xinhua News Agency, Jinan, May 14 (Reporter Wang Zhi) Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute announced on the 13th that the first liquid ammonia tank for cryopreservation of human body in China is in good condition, with an average daily consumption of about 40 liters of liquid nitrogen.
"The first cryopreservation of human body in China" has attracted extensive attention from experts and scholars in various fields such as medicine, biology, law and ethics, and the public. What is the significance of "life extension"?
How is the progress of "the first human cryopreservation"?
On the 13th, a small and special commemorative activity was held at Shandong Yinfeng Institute of Life Sciences in Jinan-to commemorate the first human cryopreservation volunteer in China, Zhan Wenlian.
In the lobby of the Cryogenic Medicine Research Center of Yinfeng Research Institute, Ms. Zhan Wenlian’s favorite music-"I only care about you" was played. Her husband Gui Junmin put a bunch of yellow roses in front of his wife’s huge photo and stared at her photo with deep affection. Looking through the electrically controlled glass window, it is Zhan Wenlian’s residence: a huge liquid nitrogen storage tank, which has been kept at a low temperature of MINUS 196℃ for a whole year.
At 4: 01 am on May 8, 2017, in the comfortable medical ward of the East Hospital of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 49-year-old Zhan Wenlian with lung cancer stopped her heartbeat and breathing in her hospital bed. Within 2 minutes after the attending doctor announced Zhan Wenlian’s clinical death in accordance with legal procedures, several clinical response experts quickly injected anticoagulants, antioxidants and central nervous nutrition into her body, and quickly infused ice salt water through the circulatory system to physically cool down. At the same time, tracheal intubation was implemented and cardiopulmonary support equipment was started to ensure blood supply and oxygen supply to the body and maintain its physiological functions.
Then, Zhan Wenlian was quickly transported by ambulance to the Cryogenic Medicine Research Center of Yinfeng Research Institute for a vital perfusion replacement operation-replacing blood with cryoprotectant to minimize the freezing damage caused by cryopreservation.
On a specially designed low-temperature operating table, doctors used cardiopulmonary bypass technology to lower Zhan Wenlian’s body temperature to about 18℃, and performed blood replacement and multiple gradient cryoprotectant perfusion. After that, Zhan Wenlian’s body was quickly transferred to a large-span automatic programmed cooling device to continue deep cooling.
On May 10th, after dozens of hours of programmed cooling, Zhan Wenlian’s body was put into a liquid nitrogen biological container with a height of more than 3 meters, and she became the first full-body freezer in China. Zhan Wenlian is another example of human freezing after the head of Chongqing woman writer Du Hong was frozen.
Qu Tingyu, Executive Dean of Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute, said that in the past year, the No.1 tank where Ms. Zhan was located was in good condition. In addition to the automatic recording data of the liquid nitrogen tank, they also had to inspect and record data such as temperature and liquid level every day to ensure that the height of liquid nitrogen in the tank was kept between 1.8 and 2.5 meters. During holidays, even if the liquid nitrogen tank can realize automatic liquid replenishment and alarm, they still insist that the interval of manual inspection should not exceed 48 hours.
"In the past year, we replenished liquid nitrogen once every 10 days on average, and it is estimated that the daily consumption of liquid nitrogen is about 40 liters, which is lower than the original forecast data, which proves that our self-developed liquid nitrogen storage tank has good low consumption performance." Qu Tingyu said.
Since his wife was frozen, Zhan Wenlian’s husband Gui Junmin has always been firm in his decision. "I don’t expect my wife to be resurrected in the future, but now I have a hope when I freeze it. Moreover, she is a caring person herself. She wanted to donate her body for scientific research before her death, which also satisfied her wish. " Gui Junmin told reporters.
Controversy has not stopped, and "volunteers" have been consulting.
As soon as the news that "the first cryopreservation of human body in China" was completed was announced, a stone stirred up a thousand waves, which immediately aroused widespread concern and heated discussion at home and abroad. The reporter learned that in the past year, the ethical and legal disputes about cryopreservation of human bodies have not stopped, but it still cannot prevent new volunteers from wanting to join them.
Xu Yi, a professor at the Institute of Biological System Thermal Science of University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, said in an interview: "Cryopreservation has been discussed internationally for decades. From the understanding of the scientific community, it is impossible to realize the resurrection of frozen human body at present. However, in terms of promoting scientific development, Yinfeng’s surgery is still a meaningful exploration. "
Apart from the technical possibility in the future, the biggest doubts about human cryopreservation are legal compliance and ethical feasibility. Dai Xin, a law professor at China Ocean University, believes that the future of cryopreservation of human body mainly involves some procedural legal issues such as organ donation, without involving human body resuscitation. However, once recovery is involved, the relevant legal issues are very complicated, such as how to determine the identity of people, whether human entities must exist, and existing laws need to be redesigned.
It is understood that there are several organizations engaged in cryonics in the world, such as American cryonics organization, European cryonics organization and Russian Horus company. It is reported that about two or three hundred people around the world have undergone human cryosurgery.
"Only by continuous exploration can we achieve scientific progress." Jia Chunsheng, vice president of Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute, said frankly that cryopreservation of human body is only a research plan, and there is no guarantee that the cryopreserved human body will be resurrected in the future, but it is a brave exploration of life science and the ultimate dream in the field of cryogenic biomedicine. In order to realize this dream, it is the main driving force to carry out scientific attempts.
Yinfeng Research Institute, funded by Yinfeng Bioengineering Group Co., Ltd. in 2015, is a research institution focusing on genetic engineering, stem cell technology development, cryopreservation and resuscitation of human cells, tissues and organs, cell therapy and regenerative medicine transformation.
In the past year, Yinfeng Research Institute received more than 2,000 visits, among which 201 people specifically asked how to become cryonics volunteers, 40 of them visited Yinfeng Research Institute, and 30 of them evaluated their illness, showing the attraction of cryopreservation of human bodies.
What is the significance of "life extension"?
Despite the controversy, Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute announced the Yinfeng Life Continuation Research Plan on the 13th. Jia Chunsheng introduced that this is a comprehensive life science research plan, including gene technology plan, cell banking and clinical transformation plan, tissue and organ banking plan, and even artificial organ research plan.
Jia Chunsheng told the reporter that Yinfeng is engaged in the research on cryopreservation of human body, and hopes that through the preservation and resurrection technology of tissues and organs, it will be applied to clinic in the future to provide better services for patients with diseases, and at the same time promote the progress of donation of life resources such as remains, organs and hematopoietic stem cells that are urgently needed in China.
Liu Shuwei, a professor of anatomy at Qilu Medical College of Shandong University, is very concerned about the cryopreservation of human organs and tissues, even the human body. Liu Shuwei said: "At first, I was skeptical about Yinfeng’s life extension research plan, but now it seems that this research is worth carrying out." For example, at what temperature can tissue activity be preserved better and recovered better in the future, which need to be verified through continuous experiments.
Sun Wenyu, director of the Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital (Qingdao Campus), also believes that cryopreservation of tissues and organs is of great significance to clinical medicine from a technical point of view. For example, cryopreservation of skin is a good guarantee for the treatment of burn patients, and cryopreservation of organs such as heart and liver is even more necessary, which is very important for prolonging patients’ lives.
Wang Yongjun, director of the development department of the Red Cross Society of Shandong Province, said that the Red Cross Society of Shandong Province is very supportive of the research on cryopreservation carried out by Yinfeng Research Institute, hoping to promote the development of this cause, promote the progress of medical technology and benefit more patients.
Sang Benqian, a law professor at China Ocean University, believes that there is no legislation on cryopreservation of human body in China at present, but the exploration itself is still pioneering, and it is suggested to speed up relevant legislation to provide legal protection for scientific research.