The idea of cheating death has typically been reserved for science fiction movies and horror films. However, in recent years, the concept of immortality via cryonics has been discussed in more serious tones.

Cryonics is the practice of cryogenically preserving human bodies at extremely low temperatures with the prospect that medical advancements may be able to cure them of fatal illness or senescence in the future. In May 2024, Australian cryonics company Southern Cryonics successfully preserved its first patient, an 80-year-old man from Sydney. Although described as “Patient One”, he is among an estimated 655 cryopreserved bodies worldwide. Celebrities such as Steve Aoki, Seth MacFarlane and Simon Cowell have either signed up for cryopreservation or have expressed intent to do so.

To date, there is no solid scientific proof that reviving the dead will ever be possible. Is cryonics simply a pseudoscientific cash grab, or can it bring the plotlines of Futurama and Captain America to life?

The cryonics story so far

The origins of cryonics can be traced back to 1947 when Robert Ettinger, the so-called “father of cryonics”, discovered research in the area by French biologist Jean Rostand. Following years of research, Ettinger made a scientific case for cryonics in 1960 before privately authoring a preliminary version of his book called The Prospect of Immortality. Many believe that Ettinger’s seminal work was a product of the writer's midlife crisis as he came to terms with his own inevitable death. In 1967, James Bedford became the first cryopreserved patient.

In 1976, Ettinger launched the Cryonics Institute, a non-profit organisation offering cryostasis services. This spurred the formation of several cryonics companies across the globe, some of which operate for profit. The Cryonics Institute charges $28,000 for full body preservation, but organisations such as the Alcor Life Extension Foundation charge as much as $200,000 to bolster research and development spending. Alcor also offers a reduced rate of $80,000 for “head-only” cryopreservation.

How does cryonics work and what are the challenges?

When an enrolled cryonics patient is declared legally dead, a response team will immediately visit the patient to ensure their blood is still pumping. The patient is then packed in ice and injected with chemicals to reduce the risk of blood clotting and brain damage. Contrary to popular belief, cryonics patients are not technically frozen but are instead cooled to just above the freezing point of water. The patient’s blood is removed, and their blood vessels are injected with a "cryoprotectant" solution to prevent ice formation. Following this, the body is placed in a container which is lowered into a tank of liquid nitrogen at -321°F (-196°C), a process known as vitrification, and transferred to a storage facility.

The primary challenge of cryonics is curbing preservation damage. Large, vitrified organs tend to develop fractures during cooling and cryoprotectants can cause injury to cells. During the revival process, all of this damage would need to be reversed to give a patient a chance at life.

Cryonics also poses legal and ethical challenges. A key focus area of Ettinger’s early writing was the idea that contemporary legal definitions of death are relative, not absolute. Most countries consider preserved individuals as legally deceased due to laws prohibiting the vitrification of living individuals. Some countries, including France, do not consider cryonics to be legal but permit bodies to be transported to jurisdictions where it is allowed. In 2016, the English High Court allowed a mother to arrange to cryopreserve her terminally ill daughter's body in the US, against the father's wishes. The judge in the case urged ministers to seek “proper regulation” for cryonics in the UK after the hospital involved raised concerns about the competence and professionalism of the cryopreservation team.

If re-animation happened, what would follow?

Many practical elements of cryonics have not been considered or have been temporarily overlooked amidst excitement. The timing of re-animation is one: would all preserved bodies be revived simultaneously, or would this be done in a distributed fashion to prevent macroeconomic shocks? If the process were staggered, would the first to be preserved top the list, or could patients pay extra to be prioritised?

Perhaps cryonics contracts will eventually behave like financial derivatives, allowing patients to choose a revival date based on its predicted quality of life, with a utopia priced higher than a dystopia. Could we soon see insurance companies underwriting cryonics contracts to compensate patients for emerging in a future filled with unforeseen systematic plights such as wars and economic downturns? Even if revived, how would cryonics patients connect with others in an unfamiliar and near-unrecognisable world? How would this impact their mental health and what support network would be in place? These are just a few of the key questions that cryonics must address to avoid being frozen in time.

"Cryonics – real hope of life or just a pseudoscientific cash grab?" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand.

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