Is it possible to be frozen

Or rather, something science-ish. If you've ever hoped to be cryogenically frozen, you might come across a legal hurdle: while human cryonics is legal in several countries, you have to be dead before going into the cryonics tank.

Otherwise, freezing someone alive is tantamount to killing. So, as it is, you can only get your dead body or head frozen—and when thawed, you'd still be dead. This doesn't deter some people, who simply hope to be cryopreserved until the day comes that humanity masters the art of resurrection, so scientists can re-animate them and cure their ailments.

Or upload their consciousness into the cloud. Whichever comes first. But for those of you who would prefer to go on ice before the immutability of brain death takes hold, there may be a legal loophole to help.

According to The Telegraph , one company hopes to avoid that legal issue entirely by building a cryonics lab in a country where human euthanasia is legal. See Scientists' Open Letter on Cryonics in which 60 eminent scientists affirm that "cryonics is a legitimate science-based endeavor".

Note that cryonics is science-based, but cannot correctly be called current science. Cryonics is based on expectations of the repair capabilities of future science. The same could be said, for example, of possible human habitation of Mars. Both involve projections of future capabilities based on the capabilities of current science. Cryonics is a matter of rational procedure, not religious miracle.

Cryonics can't restore life to people whose brains have been long been physically destroyed — a Lincoln, or a Julius Caesar, or those cremated. Cryonics simply — but reasonably — claims that if you cryopreserve a person in a way that limits damage, then that person's brain structure may be preserved sufficiently to make the eventual recovery of life and health at least possible.

And let's not be confused by language. The dictionary definition of "death" is permanent cessation of vital functions. Therefore, if someone, even after cryopreservation, has recovered, that means the person wasn't "really" dead in the first place.

We think that's the best way to look at it. Sadly, we can't. No one can guarantee success, because no one can guarantee the future. No one can predict scientific progress with certainty. We believe that a very strong case can be made for the probable success of cryonics. But that doesn't mean that social disruptions aren't possible. Nuclear war, economic collapse, political strife and terrorism, are all possible, and they could end the lives of cryopreserved patients just as easily as they can end the lives of any of us.

One thing we can guarantee is that if you don't sign up for cryonics is that you will have no chance at all of being revived in the future. The oldest patient currently still being held in cryopreservation is Dr. James Bedford, who was cryopreserved in The world is relatively stable at the moment, global world war doesn't seem likely, and the economy is relatively stable.

We can't guarantee the future. But we can and do guarantee this: that at CI we will give our very best efforts to see our member patients are restored to life and good health. The life of every director and officer and member of CI depends on those same efforts. Cryonics is strongly consistent with the pro-life views of Christianity and other religions that value the sanctity of human life.

Noted Christian theologian John Warwick Montgomery has written favorably about cryonics "Cryonics and Orthodoxy," Christianity Today, 12, , there have been positive sermons about cryonics, and even one of the earliest cryopreservations in was consecrated by a Catholic priest Cryonics Reports, Vol.

Whenever negative views have been expressed, they are almost always based on the mistaken belief that cryonics is attempting resurrection. Cryonics is a form of life support, not resurrection. We expect that cryonics, like surgical suspended animation and hypothermia rescue , will eventually be fully embraced by Christians as it becomes clear that cryonics is simply another medical technology.

Frequently Asked Questions Do you have some questions for us? Frequently Asked Questions Common sense answers to some of the most common questions about cryonics. Can Cryonics be performed on living people? How do you know revival is even possible? We believe that revival is a real possibility because: Many biological specimens have been cryopreserved, stored at liquid nitrogen temperature where all decay ceases, and revived; these include whole insects, vinegar eels, many types of human tissue including brain tissue, human embryos which have later grown into healthy children, and a few small mammalian organs.

Increasingly more cells, organs and tissues are being reversibly cryopreserved. The repair capabilities of molecular biology and nanotechnology increasingly point to a future technology that can repair damage due to aging, disease and cryonic suspension. Current progress in stem cell tissue regeneration, 3D biological printers and other advanced technologies convinces many experts that we might be able to revive people in a healthy and youthful state when these technologies mature.

Has any mammal been cryopreserved and revived? What is "Cryonic Suspension"? Nature has shown us that it is possible to cryopreserve animals like reptiles, amphibians, worms and insects. Nematode worms trained to recognise certain smells retain this memory after being frozen. The wood frog Rana sylvatica freezes during winter into a block of ice and hops around the following spring.

However, in human tissue each freeze-thaw process causes significant damage. Understanding and minimising this damage is one of the aims of cryobiology. At the cellular level, these damages are still poorly understood, but can be controlled.

Each innovation in the field relies on two aspects: improving preservation during freezing and advancing recovery after thawing. During freezing, damage can be avoided by carefully modulating temperatures and by relying on various types of cryoprotectants. One of the main objectives is to inhibit ice formation which can destroy cells and tissues by displacing and rupturing them.

For this, simple substances such as sugars and starches have been used to change viscosity and protect cell membranes. Chemicals like dimethyl sulfoxide DMSO , ethylene glycol, glycerol and propandiol are used to prevent intracellular ice formation and anti-freeze proteins inhibit ice crystal growth and re-crystallisation during thawing. In a frozen state, tissues are generally biologically stable. Biochemical reactions, including degeneration, are slowed at ultra-low temperatures to a point where they are effectively halted.

Nonetheless, there is a risk that frozen structures can experience physical disruption, such as hairline cracks. Then, upon thawing, temperature fluctuation causes a series of problems.

Tissues and cells can be damaged at this state.