The Cryonics Institute: Freezing People and Pets in Hopes of Future Resurrection

The Growing Trend of Cryogenics

An increasing number of people, and pets, are being frozen in cryogenic laboratories, in the hope of being brought back to life one day as science develops.

Increasing Demand

Business at the Cryonics Institute’s lab in Michigan is increasing, leaving it at capacity and forcing patients to be stored at a new center nearby. Between 10 and 20 spaces have been filled in the expanded storage facility.

Affordability and Accessibility

At the Michigan facility, chefs, students, secretaries, professors and pets are among those stored in liquid nitrogen. The center prides itself on being affordable for the average person, with the price for full body preservation starting at $28,000, which is usually paid for through life insurance.

Global Phenomenon

Cryonics technology (deep freezing of dead bodies) is a global phenomenon. While 1,374 of the 1,975 patients stored at the Michigan facility are Americans and 128 are British, according to the institute’s member statistics.

Rising Numbers

The number of patients at the Michigan center has risen dramatically from about 600 in 2006 to about 1,975 in 2023.

Longest-Surviving Patient

The longest-surviving patient, Rhea Ettinger, has been there since 1977, along with her son, Robert Ettinger, the founder of the Cryonics Institute. He, along with his first and second wives, are also in cryostasis at the facility.

The President’s Perspective

“Ironically, while membership is growing, I’m surprised we’re not more popular,” said Dennis Kowalski, president of the Cryonics Institute. “What we’re doing is very rational when you think about it. Cryonics is like an ambulance ride to a future hospital that may or may not be located in “One day. Although we make no guarantees, if you are buried or cremated, the chances of your return will be nil.”

Technical Process

Once patients (or pets) are declared medically dead, they are placed on ice and transported to the new facility, where perfusion (when fluid is passed through the circulatory system) is performed to replace the patient’s blood and water with a special cold-protection mixture that prevents ice from forming. The liquid acts as a form of antifreeze for extremely low temperatures. The patient is then placed in a computer-controlled unit, cooled to liquid nitrogen at -321 degrees Fahrenheit over five and a half days before being lowered into a cryostat.

Potential Future Hurdles

Even if scientists figure out how to bring people back to life, they will also need to figure out how to reverse the aging process and condition that caused them to die in the first place.

Ethical Concerns

Dr. Miriam Stoppard, a journalist, physician, and critic of cryonics, said the practice “robs the dead of their dignity.” There are serious ethical and moral concerns about this practice, which has been promoted for decades but remains a pipe dream.

Source:

Daily Mail

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