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Dr. Martine Rothblatt

Digital rebirthProlonging lives, perhaps eternally, has long been thestuff of science fiction. Martine Rothblatt's vision ofusing computers and software to do this is the latestincarnation. Her projects include:

terasemweb.orgTerasemweb.org is the Internet home base forRothblatt's Terasem Movement Transreligion Inc. Itdescribes Rothblatt's religion as one that believes that"technology will soon enable joyful immortality."

lifenaut.comA social-networking Web site launched by Rothblatt, itclaims about 7,500 members.

cyberev.orgOn this site, people can post pictures, video and more.Theoretically, researchers can use this information tocreate a digital "mindfile" of the person, which could bebroadcast into space or turned into software.

unither.com/utcabout.aspRothblatt founded this biotech company to find atreatment for her daughter's rare, life-threateningdisease. Today, Silver Spring-based UnitedTherapeutics has a stock market value of about $2.6billion.

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Virtual immortalityMartine Rothblatt envisions you uploading a digital version of yourself thatcould live forever online. It's not her first far-out idea.

By Tricia BishopNovember 18, 2008

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Mohandas Gandhi quote posted on CyBeRev.org

Traditional religion's ethereal immortality doesn't strike Martine Rothblatt as much of atrade-off for dying.

To the millionaire entrepreneur, wholaunched both Sirius Satellite Radioand one of Maryland's largest biotechcompanies, death is both tragic and,through not-yet-invented technology,avoidable.

Rothblatt embraces a more tangibleimmortality, a digital, downloadableone - a "transreligion fortechnological times." And she'sasking you to join in, by uploadingeverything about yourself to theInternet so researchers can spendthe next couple of decades figuringout how to create a digital version ofyou to transfer to an alternate bodywhen your current one dies.

As she says in a 2006 video, "Ourgoal is to capture the mannerisms,personality, recollections, feelings,beliefs, attitudes and values of asmany people as possible, store thisinformation, transmit this informationinto the cosmos and ... have itcombined with mindware that willallow the individuals to be revitalizedand continue to live in a joyfulimmortality."

Think of the Fountain of Youth, CountDracula's story, the Bionic Woman.For as long as there have beenpeople, we've imagined ways toprolong our lives, perhaps eternally,by melding with the mystical ormedicinal. Involving computers andsoftware is just the latest incarnation.

But to consider it outside the realm ofthe fantastical and ask others to dothe same is still a tough sell,especially when you factor in themany components bundled intoRothblatt's goal: She's also shoppinga science-fiction movie based on theidea to distributors now and has anInternet radio station beamingmessages about mind-uploading intospace.

It's a tough sell, that is, until you

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consider the other seeming impossibilities Rothblatt - who has a doctorate, a master'sdegree in business administrationand a law degree - has alreadyachieved.

Ideas become realityWhen she was young, she dreamedof tiny satellite antennas that could fiton the tops of cars; she laterlaunched Sirius Satellite Radio andwon recognition as one of theinventors of the medium. She wasborn male, but felt female, and in theearly 1990s underwent a sex changeoperation and became an advocatefor transgender rights. With no drugdevelopment background, shestarted a biotech company to find atreatment for her daughter Jenesis'primary pulmonary hypertension, arare, life-threatening disease thatelevates the pressure on bloodvessels in the lungs. Today, SilverSpring-based United Therapeuticshas a stock market value of about

$2.6 billion and gave Rothblatt a compensation package worth $25 million in 2007.

"She's a pretty interesting person in her own right," said Bruce Duncan, a professor with afilm background.

He was teaching at the University of Vermont about three years ago when he beganscouting around for a new project. He spotted an ad on Monster.com for a managingdirector position with the Bristol-based Terasem Movement Foundation, one of twoorganizations Rothblatt created to carry out her plans. He scored the job.

In September, he was on assignment at the International Film Festival in Toronto lookingfor a film distributor ("All world rights are still available," he said) for Rothblatt's movie,TransBeMan. He also shopped the film in Cannes, France, and hopes to show it at theSundance Film Festival in Utah, along with the Berlin International Film Festival.

"Because of her business, she's always interested in the leading edge of where technologyand biology and computer sciences is going," said Duncan, a recent convert to Rothblatt'sway of thinking. He happily admits it's all intriguing, even if the premise sounds a little odd.

Though technology is already merging with biology through artificial limbs attached tonerves and the like, a complete merger is definitely still a science-fiction kind of concept.Rothblatt, 53, seems to understand this.

TransBeMan is described as a "post-modern fable about the world's first Bio Electric HybridHuman, society's reaction and the emergence of 'Fleshism' as a new form of racism." Itstars James Remar ( Dexter) and Kevin Corrigan (TV's The Black Donnellys). It's meant tobe entertaining, but also educational. "Advance copies of the film for critics and industryprofessionals should be available by the end of the month, Duncan said.

The media-shy Rothblatt declined to talk on these topics, saying she spends less than 1percent of her time on the issues, though she's invested more than $1 million in them byfunding the foundation, according to 2006 tax records.

Instead, she designated Ray Kurzweil her spokesman. He's on the board of directors atUnited Therapeutics and producing/directing a movie version of his most recent book - TheSingularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology - through one of Terasem's manydivisions.

He "is extremely credible, more engaged than me & Im totally in sync with him," she said ina message sent from her iPhone.

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