See inside a facility that freezes people and pets after they die and stores their preserved remains upside down in cryostat chambers

Samantha DelouyaMar 18, 2023, 17:26 IST

Thousands of people are signed up to be frozen after they die in the hopes that they can wake up in the future.Cryonics Institute

Cryonics is the process of deep-freezing human remains in the hope that a person can be resuscitated in the future.
Cryonics Institute charges $28,000 for a body to be stored indefinitely, while competitor Alcor reportedly charges $200,000.

Throughout history, people have tried to find ways to cheat death, but lately, it's a topic that seems to be on the minds of many of Silicon Valley's super-rich.

Silicon Valley billionaires are interested in extending life.Wikipedia

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel are some of the tech elite who have invested millions of dollars in trying to figure out how to extend their lives.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos back companies focused on life extension.Drew Angerer/Getty Images/REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel are some of the tech elite who have invested millions of dollars in trying to figure out how to extend their lives.

Cryonics is a process that many people believe could help extend human life. It involves deep-freezing human remains after a person dies in the hopes that one day that person could be revived in the future.

Science fiction cryogenics set appearing in a 1975 episode of ABC's TV series "The Wide World of Mystery"American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images

Cryonics is a process that many people believe could help extend human life. It involves deep-freezing human remains after a person dies in the hopes that one day that person could be revived in the future.

No one has ever been resuscitated from cryonic suspension, and there is currently no technology to revive someone who is kept in a frozen chamber.

Interior of Cryonics Institute's facility in Michigan.Cryonics Institute

Many people think cryonic preservation involves simply freezing a person's body, but the process is more complicated than that.

Dry ice is used to store the bodies as they are transported to the facility.Leon Neal/Getty Images

According to Dennis Kowalski, the president of the Cryonics Institute, the deep-freezing process is done in a couple of steps.

Dennis Kowalski has signed up to be preserved in a chamber that reaches freezing temperatures after death.Cryonics Institute

Preservation begins after a person is declared legally dead. According to Kowalski, the sooner the process begins, the better the chance of preserving the body.

A specialized ambulance for transporting bodies undergoing cryopreservation was shown at a conference in Madrid in November 2022.Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images

First, the body is given blood thinners to prevent clotting and an antacid for stomach acids. At Cryonics Institute, a cryonics specialist, whom they call a "funeral director," performs most of the procedures.

Cryonics Institute standby kit.Cryonics Institute

First, the body is given blood thinners to prevent clotting and an antacid for stomach acids. At Cryonics Institute, a cryonics specialist, whom they call a "funeral director," performs most of the procedures.

Then, the goal is to remove as much heat from the body as possible in order to preserve it. Kowalski said the specialist will attach an automatic CPR device to the body to keep blood flowing, and then it is placed in an ice bath to cool down.

An automatic CPR machine is attached to a body while on standby.Cryonics Institute

Then, the goal is to remove as much heat from the body as possible in order to preserve it. Kowalski said the specialist will attach an automatic CPR device to the body to keep blood flowing, and then it is placed in an ice bath to cool down.

In the early days of cryonics, bodies were placed into a "straight freeze," meaning they were simply frozen after death. However, that may cause internal damage due to ice crystal formation.

Robert Ettinger is known to be the "father of cryonics." The Cryonic Institute's first patient was his mother, Rhea Ettinger, in 1977.Cryonics Institute

In the early days of cryonics, bodies were placed into a "straight freeze," meaning they were simply frozen after death. However, that may cause internal damage due to ice crystal formation.

Today, when a body arrives at a cryonics facility, it is removed from the ice bath to undergo a process called "vitrification," meaning bodies are pumped full of an "anti-freeze solution" that was inspired by the way some animals hibernate in extremely cold temperatures, according to Kowalski.

A procedure is performed to gain access to a patient's vascular system. The process prevents ice crystals from forming.Cryonics Institute

Today, when a body arrives at a cryonics facility, it is removed from the ice bath to undergo a process called "vitrification," meaning bodies are pumped full of an "anti-freeze solution" that was inspired by the way some animals hibernate in extremely cold temperatures, according to Kowalski.

The next step is to place the body into a large box that slowly cools it from the ice-water temperature down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which is -196°C (or -320°F.) Preserving the body at such a cold temperature "locks everything in a steady state," according to Kowalski.

Cryonics Institute cool-down boxCryonics Institute

The next step is to place the body into a large box that slowly cools it from the ice-water temperature down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which is -196°C (or -320°F.) Preserving the body at such a cold temperature "locks everything in a steady state," according to Kowalski.

Finally, after the process is complete, the freezing-cold body is stored in a chamber that Kowalski compared to a "giant thermos bottle."

Cryonics Institute cryostat chambersCryonics Institute

The bodies are stored upside down, and additional liquid nitrogen is added to the chambers periodically to ensure they are continuously full.

Cryonics Institute model. The bodies are stored upside down.Cryonics Institute

Kowalski said that people who sign up for cryonics tend to be optimistic about the future of scientific innovation. Many are lovers of science fiction.

Chambers where bodies are stored at Cryonics Institute.Cryonics Institute

Cryonics Institute charges a $28,000 members fee for the process and storage of bodies after members die, and the fee can be arranged through a life insurance policy.

7,000-square foot Cryonics Institute building in Michigan with more than 200 patients. There are currently more than 2,000 patients signed up.Cryonics Institute

Alcor Life Extension Foundation, another US-based cryonics company, charges $200,000 for full-body storage, and $80,000 for storage of a person's brain alone, according to Reuters.

Alcor co-founder Linda Chamberlain talks about cryonics to AZ Central.The Republic, azcentral.com

Alcor Life Extension Foundation, another US-based cryonics company, charges $200,000 for full-body storage, and $80,000 for storage of a person's brain alone, according to Reuters.

Dr. Max More, the former CEO of Alcor, once said he plans only to store his brain, calling his body "replaceable.

Alcor's CEO until 2020.Jean-Marie HOSATTE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Indeed, the process of reviving a person who has been frozen would likely also need to include reversing some of the aging process, and undoing any damage or illness in a person's body, Kowalski concedes.

Some aspects of the aging process would likely need to be reversed if bodies are ever revived.Getty

Indeed, the process of reviving a person who has been frozen would likely also need to include reversing some of the aging process, and undoing any damage or illness in a person's body, Kowalski concedes.

Scientists currently don't know how to undo aging, reverse damage done by many diseases including Alzheimer's and cancer, and most importantly: if it will be possible to one day revive a person's body that has been preserved in a chamber.

Preservation chambers at Cryonics Institute.Cryonics Institute

Scientists currently don't know how to undo aging, reverse damage done by many diseases including Alzheimer's and cancer, and most importantly: if it will be possible to one day revive a person's body that has been preserved in a chamber.

Kowalski said that Cryonics Institute conservatively invests money in index funds to ensure the company can maintain its facilities for as long it takes for science and technology to catch up to cryonics' ambitions.

Cryonics Institute said they ensure longevity through conservative investments.John W Banagan / Investing

Kowalski said that Cryonics Institute conservatively invests money in index funds to ensure the company can maintain its facilities for as long it takes for science and technology to catch up to cryonics' ambitions.

"We don't know if it'll work, but it's certainly a worthwhile endeavor to find out," Kowalski said.

Dennis Kowalski standing on top of a cool-down unit at Cryonics Institute.Cryonics Institute

Here's every country that has partially or completely banned TikTok as the US threatens a nationwide ban

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

See inside a facility that freezes people and pets after they die and stores their preserved remains upside down in cryostat chambers

Throughout history, people have tried to find ways to cheat death, but lately, it's a topic that seems to be on the minds of many of Silicon Valley's super-rich.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel are some of the tech elite who have invested millions of dollars in trying to figure out how to extend their lives.

Cryonics is a process that many people believe could help extend human life. It involves deep-freezing human remains after a person dies in the hopes that one day that person could be revived in the future.

No one has ever been resuscitated from cryonic suspension, and there is currently no technology to revive someone who is kept in a frozen chamber.

Many people think cryonic preservation involves simply freezing a person's body, but the process is more complicated than that.

According to Dennis Kowalski, the president of the Cryonics Institute, the deep-freezing process is done in a couple of steps.

Preservation begins after a person is declared legally dead. According to Kowalski, the sooner the process begins, the better the chance of preserving the body.

First, the body is given blood thinners to prevent clotting and an antacid for stomach acids. At Cryonics Institute, a cryonics specialist, whom they call a "funeral director," performs most of the procedures.

Then, the goal is to remove as much heat from the body as possible in order to preserve it. Kowalski said the specialist will attach an automatic CPR device to the body to keep blood flowing, and then it is placed in an ice bath to cool down.

In the early days of cryonics, bodies were placed into a "straight freeze," meaning they were simply frozen after death. However, that may cause internal damage due to ice crystal formation.

Today, when a body arrives at a cryonics facility, it is removed from the ice bath to undergo a process called "vitrification," meaning bodies are pumped full of an "anti-freeze solution" that was inspired by the way some animals hibernate in extremely cold temperatures, according to Kowalski.

The next step is to place the body into a large box that slowly cools it from the ice-water temperature down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which is -196°C (or -320°F.) Preserving the body at such a cold temperature "locks everything in a steady state," according to Kowalski.

Finally, after the process is complete, the freezing-cold body is stored in a chamber that Kowalski compared to a "giant thermos bottle."

The bodies are stored upside down, and additional liquid nitrogen is added to the chambers periodically to ensure they are continuously full.

Kowalski said that people who sign up for cryonics tend to be optimistic about the future of scientific innovation. Many are lovers of science fiction.

Cryonics Institute charges a $28,000 members fee for the process and storage of bodies after members die, and the fee can be arranged through a life insurance policy.

Alcor Life Extension Foundation, another US-based cryonics company, charges $200,000 for full-body storage, and $80,000 for storage of a person's brain alone, according to Reuters.

Dr. Max More, the former CEO of Alcor, once said he plans only to store his brain, calling his body "replaceable.

Indeed, the process of reviving a person who has been frozen would likely also need to include reversing some of the aging process, and undoing any damage or illness in a person's body, Kowalski concedes.

Scientists currently don't know how to undo aging, reverse damage done by many diseases including Alzheimer's and cancer, and most importantly: if it will be possible to one day revive a person's body that has been preserved in a chamber.

Kowalski said that Cryonics Institute conservatively invests money in index funds to ensure the company can maintain its facilities for as long it takes for science and technology to catch up to cryonics' ambitions.

"We don't know if it'll work, but it's certainly a worthwhile endeavor to find out," Kowalski said.