Preservation of Tissue in vitro IGl) 



Conclusion 



The work on tlie preservation of eclls, tissues and organs 

 at low temperatures offers immediate possibilities of work 

 on the comparative ageing of different parts of the body. It 

 opens up the ultimate possibihty of inducing suspended 

 animation of the whole body for indefinite periods, i.e. the 

 defeat of ageing as it is now understood. Whether this latter 

 prospect comes within the realms of gerontology, or whether it 

 is in itself desirable, I do not know. It seems, however, that 

 the idea of biostasis of the whole body, macabre at first sight, 

 holds nothing new in principle, being woven into the fabric 

 of countless human beliefs, legends, and stories, from the 

 resurrection of the dead to the awakening of the Sleeping 

 Beauty. 



Acknowledgement 



The hitherto unpublished work on ovarian grafts recorded above was 

 started in collaboration with my colleague Dr. Audrey U. Smith, to 

 whom I am also indebted for Fig. 5. 



The operative procedures for the grafting experiments were carried 

 out by Miss J. Masson and Miss M. Mansi. 



REFERENCES 



Andjus, R. K. (1951). C. R. Acad. Sci., 232, 1591. 



Andjus, R. K., and Smith, A. U. (1954). J. Physiol, 123, 66P. 



Lovelock, J. E. (1953). Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 11, 28. 



Lovelock, J. E. (1954). Nature, Lond., 173, 659. 



MoLLisoN, P. L., Sloviter, H, a., and Chaplin, H. (1952). Lancet, 2, 



501. 

 Parkes, a. S., and Smith, A. U. (1953). Proc. roy. Soc, B, 140, 455. 

 Parkes, a, S., and Smith, A. U. (1954). J. Physiol, 123, 67P. 

 PoLGE, C, Smith, A. U., and Parkes, A. S. (1949). Nature, Lond., 



164, 666. 

 RowsoN, L. E. A., and Polge, C. (1953). Vet. Rec, 65, 677. 

 Smith, A. U., Lovelock, J. E., and Parkes, A. S. (1954). Nature, 



Lond., 173, 1136. 

 Smith, A. U., and Parkes, A. S. (1954). Ciba Foundation Symposium: 



"Preservation and Transplantation of Normal Tissues", p. 76. 



London: J. &. A. Churchill, Ltd. 



DISCUSSION 



Medawar: Parkes and Krohn between them have not quite covered 

 all the techniques one might use to construct "age chuneras", that is 



