Elleda Wilson: In suspension
Oct. 27—This is not science fiction, it's happening now, and has been going on for decades: Cryopreservation, i.e., being frozen immediately after death in the hope of being able to revive the person at a future date.
A recent article in SmithsonianMag.com features the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, located in Scottsdale, Arizona, which offers freezing the entire body (for $200,000), or just the head (a neuropreservation, for $80,000). So far, they have 200 "patients" in tanks filled with liquid nitrogen, plus around 100 pets, waiting to be revived later, when technology catches up to the concept.
Since sperm and embryos and stem cells can now be cryopreserved and thawed, Alcor feels there's hope for more advances in that field. Not to mention, there's the burgeoning field of nanotechnology for cell repair, which was only a concept when Alcor was founded in 1972.
Ear confession: I worked with Alcor for awhile in the mid-1980s, when they were in Riverside, California, volunteering my photography skills to document the cryopreservation process — from the time of the arrival of the body at the facility, through the surgery, until it was safely suspended in liquid nitrogen in a dewar. Although a bit eerie it was, by far, the most intriguing job, with the most interesting people imaginable. (Photo: Alcor Life Extension Foundation)
