Cryonics is a game with low odds but a huge jackpot. By preserving their bodies in liquid nitrogen, cryonauts hope to be resurrected by distant future technologies. However, high-quality conservation with an eye to the future requires the use of very advanced technologies of the present, which the specialists of the KrioRus company told us about.
Sergey Apresov
Journalistic ethics requires that articles on controversial topics always contain more than one point of view. Cryonics is one of the most controversial areas of practical activity, in which many people flatly refuse to recognize science. Therefore, to fulfill our professional duty, let's start with the skeptical part.
The possibility of reviving a frozen person using future technologies cannot be 100% guaranteed. No self-respecting cryogenic company will sign a promise to revive a patient after a certain number of years. Both research in the field of cryonics and the business of preserving the bodies of cryonics patients are based on the belief that the most promising technologies of today will receive worthy development. We are talking about growing organs and creating their artificial analogs, about nanotechnology in medicine, about modeling consciousness. This position gives enough scope for skepticism, so finding criticism of cryonics will not be the slightest difficulty.
The cryoprotectant solution is supplied to the carotid artery using a pump and exits through the jugular vein. The perfusion process for neurosparing takes about two hours. At the same time, the patient's body is cooled and put into hypothermia. The photo shows a demonstration mannequin.
However, not all skeptics know how difficult it is to preserve the body without damaging it, and what advanced technologies are behind this process. These methods are associated with quite tangible achievements of today, such as the storage of sperm with the possibility of fertilization 20 years after preservation or the freezing of human embryos ranging in size from several tens to several hundred cells with subsequent return to life.
1. The medical roller perfusion pump allows you to accurately control the flow rate of the solution. Exceeding the permissible pressure can lead to damage to blood vessels.
These successes alone make us take the prospects of cryobiology very seriously. Danila Medvedev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the KrioRus company, told us about them.
Process, not result
In order to think about the temporary suspension and subsequent restoration of life, a deep understanding of death is necessary. The understanding that dying is not a one-time event, but a process extended over time, consisting of several stages, has made it possible for many patients to return to life after clinical death as a result of resuscitation procedures.
2. A pressure gauge helps specialists constantly monitor the pressure in the circulatory system. A sharp increase in pressure indicates the presence of a blood clot or other damage that can be promptly repaired.
Clinical death itself is characterized by cardiac arrest, cessation of breathing, and disappearance of external signs of life. In the absence of blood circulation, oxygen stops flowing to the cells of tissues and organs. Unfortunately, the cells of the central nervous system, in particular the cerebral cortex and subcortical structures, are most sensitive to anoxia (lack of oxygen).
When diagnosing clinical death, doctors usually have only a few minutes left to carry out resuscitation measures. However, in some cases, the duration of clinical death can increase to several tens of minutes. One of these cases is hypothermia, a decrease in body temperature (usually to 20−25°C), which slows down biological processes. Hypothermia is used in surgery for some operations that require cardiac arrest.
3. Using a syringe, samples of the solution are taken from the jugular vein. When the sample concentration coincides with the concentration of the supplied solution, it is considered that the cells are saturated with the cryoprotectant.
When the bioelectrical activity of the brain ceases, brain death is declared. Resuscitation measures are stopped, and the person is declared dead, including from a legal point of view. What happens in the cells of organs, tissues and brain at this moment?
Different tissues exhibit varying degrees of resistance to anoxia. The heart can last up to two hours after biological death, the kidneys and liver - up to four hours, muscles and skin - up to six, and bones - up to several days. The brain has the smallest margin of safety, but its cells do not die at the same time, all at once.
4. The cryoprotector solution is prepared in several concentrations. First, the least concentrated solution is supplied, then, as it becomes saturated, a more concentrated one is supplied.
A cell is a biological mechanism that constantly consumes energy produced through oxidative processes. With the cessation of energy supply, the cell ceases to recover and respond to external stimuli. The permeability of the plasma membrane is gradually disrupted, the concentration of ions changes, swelling of organelles and rupture of their membranes occurs.
It turns out that for some time after biological death, many brain cells remain alive, and some die, but retain most of their structural elements. In fact, all cryonics is based on the assumption that the most careful preservation of the physical structure of the brain will allow the patient's personality to be transferred into the future.
5. A refractometer is an optical instrument that measures the refractive index of a solution. The refractive index can be used to determine the concentration of a solution. The device measures the concentration when preparing the solution and when taking samples from the jugular vein.
It is quite logical to believe that a person’s personality is determined by his memories - more precisely, the contents of long-term memory. It is known that the processes of thinking and memorization are determined by connections between individual neurons, sometimes located very far from each other. In 2009, the US National Institutes of Health launched the Human Connectome project (similar to the genome), aimed at mapping neural connections.
Basic theories of memory one way or another imply that the formation of these connections depends on changes in the physical structures of the brain. The synaptic theory suggests that when remembering, the conductivity of the synapse (the contact between two neurons) changes. This is due to the activation of additional protein receptors, changes in the chemical characteristics of the synaptic membrane, and even an increase in the diameter of the synapse. Biochemical theories claim that the carriers of long-term memory can be proteins, peptides, DNA or RNA.
1. The cryodepository near Sergiev Posad is not the only storage facility of KrioRus. Two dewars contain 13 cryopatients preserved using full-body technology, and a dozen and a half clients undergoing neuropreservation.
Cryonicists do not promise to preserve the brain in its original form, without the slightest damage. But medical practice suggests that traumatic brain damage does not always lead to memory loss. In addition, there is hope that in the future nanomedicine will make it possible to repair slightly damaged cells, bringing them back to life.
Glazed memory
Among the scientists experimenting with freezing organisms in order to prolong life, there are many famous names: just Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Boyle are worth mentioning. However, until the first half of the last century, these attempts remained unsuccessful. Unfortunately, cold destroys cells.
The main danger occurs when extracellular water freezes, which leads to cell dehydration. With the formation of ice, the amount of free water decreases, so the concentration of substances dissolved in this water increases. Osmotic pressure is formed, which removes water from the cells through the membrane, ultimately leading to disruption of the protein structure.
2. The flags hanging from the ceiling represent some of the countries from which patients entrusted their fate to KrioRus. Among them are the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, USA, Israel, Estonia, Ukraine.
Intracellular ice may also form. Salts are dissolved in the water contained inside the cell, which prevent the complete transformation of water into ice down to temperatures close to -40°C. Thanks to this protective property, the cytoplasm remains liquid even in severe frosts. However, when approaching a critical temperature, water still crystallizes, destroying the cell.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Swede Lindforss and the Russian botanist Maksimov conducted successful experiments on freezing fragments of living tissue using glycerin. Cryoprotectors were discovered - substances that prevent the formation of ice and protect the cell from destruction during cooling. Penetrating cryoprotectants that can pass through the cell membrane include glycerin, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethylene glycol and a number of other substances. Modern formulations include additional components that allow them to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, which separates the circulatory and central nervous systems and prevents toxins from entering the brain from the blood.
3. A container filled with dry ice serves as a temporary shelter for cryopatients before being placed in a dewar.
Cryoprotectors replace intracellular water and also bind remaining water, preventing the formation of crystallization centers. At temperatures below -130°C, vitrification, or glass formation, occurs: the solution transitions to an amorphous state. In this “glass” the spatial structures of protein macromolecules are frozen, which is important for preserving memory.
A matter of technology
When biological death is declared, it is important to cool the cryopatient as soon as possible to a state of deep hypothermia (several degrees above zero) in order to slow down biochemical processes, including cell necrosis. At the same time, perfusion begins - saturation of cells with a cryoprotectant solution through the circulatory system.
4. The vacuum system of Dewar vessels is practically sealed. To maintain the required pressure between the walls, the pump is turned on approximately twice a month.
The solution is pumped in several stages, with a gradual increase in concentration, through the carotid artery, replacing blood. Specialists monitor the pressure of the solution: exceeding the permissible level will lead to damage to blood vessels, and a sharp jump in pressure will indicate a blood clot, which can be eliminated. Having filled the vascular network, the solution exits through the jugular vein. The concentration of the solution at the outlet indicates the degree of completion of the process: if it is the same as at the inlet, then saturation has already occurred.
Perfusion of the head takes about two hours, saturation of the body can take four to six hours. “Most patients already understand that the most promising technology is neuropreservation, that is, preservation of only the head,” says Danila Medvedev, a convinced transhumanist. “On the one hand, this procedure is much faster and therefore gives a greater chance of preserving the structure of the brain, memory, and personality. On the other hand, the current level of technology development allows us to judge that the medicine of the future will make it possible to create a new body for the patient, instead of restoring the old and sick one.”
The concept of death has changed many times over time. According to the expectations of cryonicists, it will change in the future: “informational death” will be considered final, after which it will be impossible to restore data about the characteristics of the organism in order to partially or completely recreate it. One of the most striking experiments was carried out by resuscitators from the University of Pittsburgh in 2005. They put the dogs into a state of clinical death for three full hours, after which they returned them to full life. The test subjects had their blood completely drained, replacing it with a chilled saline solution saturated with oxygen and glucose. The dogs' hearts stopped and electrical activity in the brain disappeared. Three hours later, the scientists returned blood to the animals, warmed them and started their hearts using a defibrillator. Some dogs died, but most returned to full life. Research in this direction attracted close attention, and then funding from DARPA. In the future, life-suspension technology will help save people, such as critically ill patients who are far from the clinic and need long-term transportation, or soldiers on the battlefield who are bleeding to death.
Once perfusion is complete, the cryopatient is transported to storage in a dry ice container and immersed in liquid nitrogen for long-term storage at -196°C. Today this is the most reliable method of conservation, which does not require constant attention and electricity.
Dewars of the Krio-Rus cryodepository are two-layer composite tanks. The space between the outer and inner walls of the dewar (20−30 cm) is filled with perlite (volcanic rock), and the air has been pumped out of it. The vacuum between the walls is maintained by a pump, which turns on approximately once every two weeks. Approximately once a month, liquid nitrogen is added to the dewar (about a centimeter in level). In the future, it is planned to create a closed system, including a machine for liquefying evaporated nitrogen and an independent power plant using solar panels. “There are reasons why it is better to keep patients at -130°C rather than -196°C. We are already developing a device for storage in a gaseous environment (like in a refrigerator) with a computer control system and dosed supply of liquid nitrogen,” Danila Medvedev shares his plans.
In addition to the Russian company KrioRus, there are two companies in the world that have their own cryogenic storage facilities. These are the Alcor Life Extention Foundation (USA, Arizona) and the Cryonics Institute (USA, Michigan). Storage facilities are expected to open in Switzerland and China in the near future.
Quantity to quality
Today there are three cryogenic companies in the world with their own storage facilities: two in the USA and one in Russia. The number of cryopatients is approaching 300 people, of which 41 are preserved in our country.
If we recognize the chances of “resurrection” as non-zero, then their increase directly depends on the spread of the idea of cryonics, its integration into the scientific process, cultural context, and legal norms. For example, the introduction of cryonics into clinical practice will make it possible to immerse the patient in hypothermia and begin perfusion immediately after the onset of biological death, which will significantly increase the chances of preserving the brain structure. The development of the legislative framework, in particular the introduction of liability for disruption of the cryodepository, will help patients live until the long-awaited breakthrough in medicine. Finally, basic education will help avoid situations where relatives interfere with the will of people who want to cryopreserve.
Currently, the Krio-Rus company is promoting the construction of a cryodepository in Switzerland, and is also participating in the development of a giant storage facility in China with the direct assistance of the state. Coupled with the undying interest in related scientific and practical fields, such as transplantology, embryology, resuscitation and nanotechnology, this gives hope that the first cryonics patients, if they do not gain eternal life, will at least serve science.
Elena Poskannaya, portal "Vzglyad" (Ukraine), 11/16/2013.
Many people want a chance at another life. For now, this is a pipe dream, but scientists assure that in the near future humanity will be able to come close to realizing this daring idea.
Biorobot or human
Why live again? Futurologists have no doubt about the answer: in order to have more time, see the world in the future, fly to other planets. Many different ways have already been invented for this. For example, cloning. For now, experiments in this area are prohibited, but in a few decades the situation may change dramatically. To wait for better times, you just need to preserve your DNA.
There is a more fantastic way - to return to earth in another body. It is predicted that in the next 20-30 years a kind of biomatrix, a universal body that does not have its own characteristics, may be created. This biorobot can be transplanted with a preserved brain or transferred genetic information, or even a neural map of the brain recorded on a computer. Then a person will be able to be reborn in a new, more perfect body and continue his life path.
For almost a century, the minds of scientists have been occupied by the possibility of hibernation and cryonics. In the first case, we are talking about immersing a person in long-term anabiosis (a sharp slowdown of all life processes), in the second - about the complete freezing of the body in liquid nitrogen for subsequent rebirth. It is in this form, according to scientists, that it will be easier for a person to travel in space and conquer other planets. But it is important not just to preserve the body, but to create technologies for its resurrection.
Deadly ice
The interest in cryonics is quite understandable. There are many examples on Earth of how living organisms can survive cold. The champions of survival in ice are amphibians. For example, the salamander, which lives in the permafrost zone, goes into hibernation at temperatures below –6. When the temperature drops, this newt's liver begins to produce glycerol, which prevents the formation of ice crystals that can destroy cells.
The winners of the first prize for survival in extreme conditions are tiny Arctic invertebrates - tardigrades. They are able to completely displace water from their body. The tardigrade decreases in size, curls up, becomes covered with a waxy shell and goes into suspended animation. In this state, it is able to withstand pressure of 6 thousand atmospheres, radiation doses a thousand times higher than lethal, temperatures up to –270 degrees and prolonged heating at a temperature of +100. In fact, this is the only earthly creature capable of surviving in outer space.
And in the human body, low temperatures can also stop all changes for many years, scientists say. But there is a problem: water, of which 60% is in the body, freezes and forms ice crystals with sharp edges that destroy cells. It was partially resolved by replacing the blood with a special xenon solution. However, the body consists of many types of cells, and one cryoprotectant cannot save them all. Therefore, it has not yet been possible to “resurrect” not only the body, but even an individual organ after freezing. Cryonics has only achieved success in the area of freezing and restoring individual cells.
On the issue of ethics
Living people cannot be frozen. According to the law, this is equivalent to murder. That's why cryobiologists take on the recently deceased. But if a person died from a serious illness, how can he come back to life after being frozen? Is it advisable to revive old people in their previous body? There is no answer to these questions. This is the weakest point in the theory of cryonics adherents. None of them can guarantee that in the future the idea will not turn out to be a banal waste. Anyone who has invested in cryonics today certainly supports the science. But at the same time he risks, having paid a lot of money, not to be resurrected.
In order not to lose face, cryonicists assure that in the future special technologies will appear that are still unknown to us. “And then the problems of damage during freezing, which are considered irreversible today, will be easily solved,” says Ben Best, head of the American Cryonics Institute. It is interesting that, supporting the hope of resurrection, cryonicists call their dead and frozen clients “cryopatients,” and the body’s stay in freezing is called “cryosleep.”
The ideas of Western scientists at the Kharkov Institute of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine are considered utopian. “It is not practical to revive a frozen person in the future. Who will be the smartest person by today's standards in 100 years, when the whole world has changed? Why bring something like that back to life?” – Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Georgy Babiychuk doubts.
A person is not a machine, but a set of information: soul, personal characteristics, life experience, psyche, instincts, memory. Even if one day the body is unfrozen and it suddenly begins to show signs of life, will the person who was previously in this body suit be resurrected? Cryobiologists cannot yet guarantee this.
However, about 2,000 people around the world have already ordered cryopreservation of their bodies or brains (as an economical option) after death. Many celebrities have expressed the desire to “freeze” - for example, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. In any case, the chance for immortality is not yet available to everyone due to its high price.
3 facts about cryonics
1 As of 2012, 206 frozen bodies were stored in cryogenic institutes (including three Ukrainian citizens, they are in the Russian cryogenic storage facility). Officially, about 2 thousand people are clients of cryofirms.
2 In the USA, freezing the body costs $100 thousand, the brain - about $70 thousand. In Russia, prices are lower - from $12 thousand.
3 The first cryopatient was a psychology professor from California, James Bedford, who died of cancer. He was frozen in 1967 at the age of 74 and remains in cryogenic storage to this day. More than a million dollars have already been spent on maintaining his body.
How it's done
1 After declaring death, doctors inject heparin into the vein to prevent the blood from clotting.
2 A person is put on a ventilator to keep their brain alive.
3 Body temperature is reduced to +3 degrees with the help of ice.
4 The blood is pumped out in a special capsule and replaced with a preservation solution.
5 The body gradually cools to –196 degrees (one degree per hour).
6 The capsule with the frozen body is placed for permanent storage in liquid nitrogen.
Second life for your beloved cat
The only company engaged in freezing bodies and having its own storage facility in the CIS is the Russian KrioRus. You can leave your brain “for safekeeping” here for $12 thousand, your entire body for $36 thousand. You can also freeze your pet in the hope of subsequent resurrection: five dogs, three cats and even two birds (a tit and goldfinch). Prices depend on the size of the animal: for example, a small cat can be cryopreserved for $9 thousand. The company’s website specifically states that the contract for cryopreservation of an animal includes the revival of your pet in the future.
The Dewar flask was created to store the bodies of cryopatients in liquid nitrogen. Does not consume electricity, you only need to maintain the nitrogen level.
Professor James Bedford became the first cryopatient.
Is this even legal?
“Forget everything you know about life and just open your eyes...”
This is the slogan for the famous film with Tom Cruise “Vanilla Sky”. In the film, the hero dies and is placed in a cryocapsule*, in which he lies peacefully and sees wonderful dreams. In reality, everything is a little different from the movies. You will not be given the opportunity to dream. “You just fall asleep and wake up. For you, time of hundreds of years will fly by like a blink,” says Maxim Andrakovsky, head of the company for cryo-freezing people “Crio Life”.
*Cryocapsule is a place for cryopreservation and further preservation of the body until defrosting. Cryonics is the preservation of people, animals, or just the brain in a state of deep cooling for subsequent revival and possible cure in the future.
However, no one can guarantee that you will ever wake up. And no one promises that your memories and your personality as a whole will be preserved after the “ice sleep”. How can you legally make money by freezing people, and most importantly, why do people do it? And many more questions: how much does it cost to freeze yourself until better times? Where will my body be stored? Can you freeze your beloved dog too? Read on for answers to this and much more.
After unsuccessful experiments on frogs, individual human cells and baboons, deep-freezing technologies have moved far forward, and cryogenic companies have developed and multiplied. Now anyone can ensure eternal life for themselves by paying 1.5 million rubles (price of cryopreservation in “Crio Life” as of 08/25/15).
In Russia, more than 134 people (as of 2014) turned to cryonics centers, and 34 of them are already frozen and are waiting in the wings. In the USA, this figure for 2011 was 1832 people, of which 206 people had already been cryopreserved. It can be assumed that this figure has now increased significantly. What can I say, even Walt Disney wanted to freeze, although then it is not clear whose remains rest in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
It is worth noting that those who want to experience immortality are not very concerned about the high price of the procedure, the lack of safe defrosting technology, and even freezing itself, as well as the complete contradiction of traditional burial.
Among the existing companies specializing in cryofreezing are Alcor, Trans Time, Cryonics Institute and KrioRus. Now a new organization “Crio Life” has entered the market, which has also opened a franchise for those wishing to join the business of the future. The cost of such a franchise offer is 150 thousand rubles, and investments to launch the project vary from 50 to 100 thousand rubles.
However, before opening a business that freezes people, it is worth clarifying some legal points. All of these companies are considered to be conducting research and development activities that do not require licensing and operate as non-profit organizations. As a rule, they all cooperate with scientific laboratories and research centers. In order to enter into franchising agreements, the company creates a limited liability company, on whose behalf agreements are concluded with the franchisee.
Speaking about the legal side of cryonics, we should not forget that the public is skeptical about such a unique burial and often accuses such companies of fraud. However, in fact, there are no grounds for such accusations if the cryogenic company does not show you fake videos and does not tell fictitious stories about the resurrection of people from a cryochamber. Also, the organization should not promise you a 100% rise from the dead, and a magical cure in a specific time frame (taking into account the results of research at the present time). In order not to regard the actions of a cryogenic company as fraud, it should not deceive you into signing an agreement without justifying its promises.
However, representatives of cryonics companies assure that the clients who contact them are well aware of everything and are aware that they are investing in science, and that the project to revive people is a very long-term one. The main desire of the “patients” is to start a new life in a new reality. People come to this desire for various reasons: someone was unable to cope with their life problems, someone died too early, etc. Moreover, to our questions about the legal status of resurrected people, about controversial issues of inheritance and other legal difficulties of yesterday’s dead, the head of the Crio Life company, Maxim Andrakovsky, answers unequivocally that everything has already been thought out and there will be no problems.
In addition to the legal issue, there is a financial issue. As we have already said, freezing yourself completely in “Crio Life” costs 1.5 million rubles, in “Kriorus” cryopreservation of a person costs 36 thousand dollars, freezing the brain 12 thousand dollars, and the eternal life of your pet will cost from 10 up to 36 thousand dollars, depending on their volume and weight. In turn, at Alcor, the cryonics service is equal to 200 thousand dollars - for the whole person, and for the brain - 80 thousand dollars. All these amounts consist of the cost of the substance with which you are cryopreserved, the capsule in which you “sleep”, and the services of specialists.
As for the territorial location of storage facilities for the bodies of those who have fallen asleep, in Russia they are located in the near Moscow region, in the Urals, and it is planned to open them in Siberia.
However, despite the fact that cryogenic storage facilities are located on the territory of Russia, the population of the country itself is not yet very accepting of such unconventional burial methods and the main clients of such companies are still Europeans and Americans. Although on the website of the American Alcor you can find a whole section devoted to answers to questions of a religious nature, for example, what happens to the soul during cryo-freezing, when and where it is separated, etc. By the way, even the development of a franchise network of cryogenic companies in Russia is aimed more at popularizing this still alien procedure in the country than at increasing the profits of cryogenic companies.
Remember the action movie "Demolition Man", where a policeman played by Stallone is cryogenically frozen along with a criminal, and after 36 years they are both thawed? So, cryo-freezing is no longer a fantasy: the bodies of 11 people and two dogs are stored in a cryogenic storage facility near Moscow at minus 200C. But no one knows who and when will be able to revive them.
In the village of Alabushevo, Zelenograd, near Moscow, there is an outwardly unremarkable hangar. This is the only cryogenic storage facility in Russia owned by the KrioRus company. Inside the hangar there is a cryostat - a huge white Dewar flask, where frozen bodies and heads await resurrection under a heavy lid in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 200 degrees Celsius. For a rather illusory hope of future revival, their relatives and friends paid in advance - 30 thousand dollars for the body and 10 thousand dollars for the head. Storing frozen pets costs less - five thousand dollars. Kriorus employees call all of them “patients” - as if they were alive.
An agreement for the storage of expensive bodies can be concluded right there - in a small, shabby village house. General Director of KrioRus Danila Medvedev told photojournalist Sergei Mukhamedov about the prospects for revival and even allowed him to look inside the cryostat.
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— Such a service is associated with huge expenses, but you offer your services for a fixed fee: $10 thousand for preservation of the head or brain and $30 thousand for the whole body. Can this amount cover the maintenance of the body for a long time?
- The fact is that, basically, the costs go not to the costs of maintaining the body in a cool state, but to development. Elementary repairs need to be made, equipment purchased, people trained. And storage costs are relatively low.
- But if we are talking about long-term storage, and this may not be 50 or even 100 years, then this money will still not be enough?
- Everything is simple here. We have calculations and different scenarios. If no one else comes, then we have one algorithm of actions and one cost structure. But there is another scenario in which the number of clients remains the same as now and even grows slightly - for now we stick to exactly this scenario.
- It's not exactly a pyramid. We can pay from our own pockets for a long time<содержание>those patients that we already have. But<их родным необходимо сразу заплатить>a fixed amount, otherwise they can then say at any time: “You know, we’ve run out of money.”
That's why<наша позиция>- you need to take the entire amount and say: “We received the money and assume all responsibility and expenses.” In addition, we have our own relatives cryopreserved here: my grandmother, the director’s mother, as well as friends, relatives of friends. Therefore, we can pay our own nitrogen bills.
—How many frozen bodies do you currently have?
— In Russia, 15 people were cryopreserved - all with our participation, with the exception of two, who were<крионированы до создания>"KrioRusa". Some are kept not by us, but by relatives, but we helped organize storage. We currently have the bodies of four patients, as well as the cryopreserved brains of seven more people. In addition, we store the bodies of two animals.
—What if something happens - a fire or your premises are taken away?
- No guarantees.
— So you might disappear tomorrow?
- Yes, and money just like that - and all the hopes for revival too. We understand this and speak honestly about it: “If you want guarantees, then help us build everything well, invest $100 million in the cryogenic company, and it will become much more reliable.”
— You can also imagine the revival if you cryopreserved a living person, but you freeze corpses?...
- There is no fundamental difference between a living person and a corpse - at least at the initial stage. 15 minutes after death, any person is, in principle, still alive, unless, of course, he was crushed by a roller. With the help of existing technologies, any person can be revived 15 minutes after death.
— But do irreversible changes occur in the brain?
“This is a fairy tale, a very common myth; apparently, this phrase has been repeated too often to the population: “After five minutes, irreversible processes begin in the brain.” I remember this myself, but it is not true. — Here Danila Medvedev begins to explain the theory, using the words “reperfusion shock”, “apoptosis”, “denaturation” and “perfusion”.
— Okay, we've sorted out the body, but why cryopreserve the head separately?
— The brain is responsible for personality; it can be transplanted into the body and, with the help of nanorobots, sewn to everything else. Head transplants and body regrowth are feasible even today. In the most advanced technology, this will be the transfer of consciousness into a computer, the so-called “download”. If we can calculate the entire structure of the human brain and simulate it on a computer, we will get an analogue of a living person who will begin to think like the original. The copy will feel like the same person and will live indefinitely until the computer shuts down.
—Is the decision to cryopreserve more often made by relatives rather than the patient himself?
- About half the time.
“I wouldn’t want to suddenly realize after death that now I’m a living head with tubes in solution or a consciousness running through computer chips...
— For this purpose there is an expression of will in civil law, you can come to a notary or even tell someone orally. If this expression of will is known, then everything should be done in accordance with it.
— What if the person didn’t say anything, and the relatives decided to cut off his head and freeze him?
- They have this right by law. Since he didn’t say anything, it means he didn’t mind. The law on burial and funeral affairs states that this is determined either by the person during his lifetime, or by relatives or other legal representatives.
— Let’s say that in a century or two science will figure out how to revive cryopreserved people. Who will you give the body to, because then it will be difficult to find relatives?
“Our contract says: “The best way is to return a person to functioning as a living organism.”
—And who will you entrust this “living organism” to?
— The decision about who to entrust the revival of the body will most likely be made not by the organization, but by some entity.
—But we can’t know, maybe then shamans will rule or programmers...
- We'll figure it out there.
- TO What does a person frozen in nitrogen look like?
- Like someone who just died. If he died of cancer, it’s bad; if he died of a heart attack at a young age, then it’s normal, just pale. The bodies are kept in sleeping bags and the heads in metal containers.
— The history of life and illness is preserved somewhere; will descendants need it?
- In a good way, this, of course, must be done. If such information is sent to us, we scan it and store it.
— Let’s say, in search of migrant workers in their summer cottages, riot police come to you and find a dismembered body with seven heads and four corpses in the hangar...
— We do not break the law, but we act in a legal vacuum - we understand that this is risky. Of course, some arbitrariness is possible, but for the most part people are adequate and dialogue with them is possible. We have documents, acts of acceptance and transfer of bodies for storage, a charter where it is written that we are engaged in scientific work, and so on.
— Do the neighbors know what's here?
- Yes, almost everything. They treat this normally, well, maybe we once heard one dissatisfied voice.
— Are clients confused by how it all looks? Hangar, village house...
“You just need to know the history.” Any breakthrough technologies, by definition, are made under the same conditions.
