Monday, June 1, 2009

Cryonics gives the power to be reborn after death?

What is cryonics?

Cryonics is the practice of using very cold temperatures to stop the dying process when ordinary medicine can no longer sustain life. This is done with the intention of saving a patient's life until a cure for their illness can be found, and means developed to reverse the cryonics process. The technology to reverse cryonics is still theoretical.

This is a controversial issue because so far no human has ever been revived using this technology. Cryopreservation is not yet reversible with the level of technology we possess today, however the scientists behind are backing on tomorrow's technological advances to bring them back to life..

Currently there is a corp called Alcor Life Extension Foundation located at Scottsdale, Arizona, that is offering this cryonic service. Alcor offers two options: for whole body preservation you would need a minimum policy of $150,000, and for neuropreservation you would need a minimum policy of $80,000. U might ask what is neuropreservation? Well, i did check that up in their official website.






According to their FAQ, Cryopreservation that is focused on doing the best possible job to preserve the human brain is called "neuropreservation." The brain is a fragile organ that cannot be removed from the skull without injury, so it is left within the skull during preservation and storage for good ethical and scientific reasons. This gives rise to the mistaken impression that Alcor preserves "heads". It is more accurate to say that Alcor preserves brains in the least injurious way possible. As a practical matter, cephalic isolation (or "neuroseparation") is performed by surgical transection at the sixth cervical vertebrae. Non-cryopreserved tissue is handled in accordance with member wishes. Cremation is common. To make it sound less scientific my guess is that it means preserving the brain with the skull intact and other body parts are handled separately...eg cremation.

Now u may ask, is there really someone who would go all the way to resort to cryonics to so-called be reborned again in the unknown future? The answer is a resounding YES! As of March 31, 2009, Alcor has 888 members and 85 patients (means body or part of body currently being cryonised). See the membership graft here.

Curious to see how it looks like? I bet u do!

The operating room at Alcor's Scottsdale, Arizona, facility.


The operating room becomes very busy during a cryonics case. As many as a dozen technicians, surgeons, and support staff are required. Procedures are supervised and performed by medical professionals.

A technician prepares the cryoprotectant solution perfusion circuit. The wires behind the plastic tubing are used for electronic monitoring and data collection.

And this...
Following vitrification, neuropatients are placed in individual aluminum containers.

Containers are finally immersed in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196°C for long-term care.

These containers are nicknamed "Bigfoot". Each Bigfoot can hold four wholebody patients, or 10 neuropatients in each space that would otherwise be occuppied by a whole body patient.

So the ultimate question now is, would u or would u not, register yourself for cryonics? To be reborn after death? For me, one lifetime is already quite enough LOL. I think life is suffering in itself, to be reborn is like going through the whole thing again. Who else would still be around me when i wake up one day in the unknown future? My family? My friends? My pet? Not to mention would that day even come? Is there a possiblity that the earth was being polluted so badly that the future human all migrated to space and left these cryonics on earth? And if it does work, im seriously thinking would the future be as written in the anime "Ghost in the shell"...the world full of cyborgs and cybernetics. If u are watch anime then u would know what i mean.....Or would it be like "i,robot" or the movie "A.I."?

What do U think? Would u be the next client? :)


And if ur still wondering if im just writing fiction, please surf to www.alcor.org. The official website for Alcor corp.

*Pictures and information are sourced from www.alcor.org.*

6 comments:

Medie007 said...

wow... never knew such a thing exist. but going against the natural process of life and death would really bring a lot of effects on life and death itself lor...

blue said...

medie007:

yup i do agree on that. But on the other hand, with current medical advances, it IS already going against the natural process of life and death :) people live longer and die later. Which is why there are more chronic cases like hypertension and diabetes and cancer cases nowadays...

[SK] said...

hmmm, that is really an eye-opener.. i wonder for how long a person can be preserved??

blue said...

sk:
hmm...i think its either until the cells started to degenerate, or the earth collapse, or until u have no more money to continue the service, whichever comes first LOL

Bryan D.C. said...

Is it cryogenic or cyrogenic???

To me, i wouldn't opt for it as there is no point for me to wake up one day and being a totally stranger to the new world, with no friends, family, and no proper knowledge and exposure to the new future out there...haha

blue said...

hi brian,

thanks for your visit!

yes its cryogenic...cryo means involving or producing cold. I guess cryopreservation is not everyone's cup of tea :)