Remember how in sci-fi films astronauts go into a cryosleep to pass the years ahead of them before they reach their destination? This keeps them alive while years pass by without the need for any food or other resources. Interstellar, Passengers and more such films have depicted this scenario.
Some companies are doing something similar where a person is frozen in hopes of waking him up in the future. Here the dream is that man will one day have the technology to do so. Cryopreservation is becoming popular among billionaires where their bodies are frozen with hopes of coming back to life in the future.
It sounds like a totally unrealistic idea, something we only read in books or see in TV shows and films. But some billionaires have actually gone through with it. In fact, 500 people worldwide have already been frozen for future revival. Most of them are from the United States.
Arizona-based cryonics facility Alcor Life Extension Foundation has frozen 230 people and has a total of 1,400 members.
Cryopreservation process
The procedure of freezing a human body is known as vitrification. In this, a person’s blood is replaced with a cryoprotectant solution which prevents ice crystals from forming as they can damage cells and tissues. Later, the body is cooled to -196 degrees Celsius and then stored in a vacuum-insulated metal container that is filled with liquid nitrogen.
How much does cryopreservation cost?
It definitely comes with a huge price tag. So those with multi-million and multi-billion wealth are the only ones opting for it. Alcor charges $220,000 (nearly Rs 2 crore) for the cryopreservation of the whole body. You can also choose to preserve only your brain under the process called neuro cryopreservation for just $80,000 (nearly Rs 66 lakh).
Is there a guarantee of revival?
No. It can’t be said for sure that one day human beings will develop a technology when the body can be revived, reversing the damage caused by the preservation process. But it is with the hope of witnessing a time when terminal illnesses will be a thing of the past and ageing can be treated like a regular disease.
How do you ensure survival after revival?
Through a trust fund which you create for your future self and to care for your cryopreserved body. For example, at Alcor, $115,000 is put into the Alcor Patient Care Trust for whole-body preservation and $25,000 for brain preservation. Besides, caring for the body, the money will be given to you if and when you are revived in the future.