How the wealthy are freezing themselves in the hopes of awakening hundreds of years later: Defying time and death
Imagine waking up in a future when aging is a treatable ailment and diseases like cancer are a thing of the past due to advancements in medical technology. Sadly, it's possible that humanity won't get there, especially not in our lifetimes. However, what if we told you that there is a business that would be happy to euthanize you and then bring you back to life hundreds or even thousands of years later? In an era where physicians can avoid death and stop aging. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation has this as its goal. People are being kept by this US-based company, which bills itself as the world's top cryonics company, in the hopes of one day living that amazing future.
This is something that most of us would consider to be a pipe dream or the far future. You might be astonished to hear that Alcor has frozen 233 patients in the hopes of bringing them back to life years down the line.
Cryonics, a technique that preserves human beings at extremely low temperatures, is the science underlying this unusual enterprise. The purpose? in order to preserve them until hypothetical future medical developments allow for their revival and treatment. In order to stop ice crystal formation, which can harm cells and tissues, this innovative process, called vitrification, replaces the body's blood with a cryoprotectant solution. The body is kept in a metal container that is vacuum-insulated and filled with liquid nitrogen after being vitrified and eventually cooled to -196 degrees Celsius.
The key query: Uncertainty surrounding revival
The Department of Anatomy at AIIMS Rajkot states that the aim is that in the future, medical technology would progress to the point where the harm caused by the preservation process and the underlying causes of death can be rectified. Nevertheless, there is currently no way for medical research to undo the effects of cryopreservation or fix any potential cellular harm. Alcor and its backers are counting on advancements in regenerative medicine and nanotechnology in the future to enable a comeback.
Without a certainty, why freeze?
So, in spite of the uncertainty, why do people choose cryonics? Many are interested in the prospect of living longer and seeing future scientific breakthroughs. The prospect of curing aging and deadly illnesses in the future is symbolized by cryonics. Alcor offers this hope, but it does not come with any deadlines or guarantees.
The wealthy getting immortality?
Technological innovations that even hint at the potential of immortality are sure to draw the attention of billionaires and millionaires. How can they, however, guarantee payments after death? To ensure that there is sufficient funding to care for cryopreserved bodies for many decades, if not forever, Alcor has implemented a trust fund mechanism.
The Alcor Patient Care Trust receives a sizable amount of your funds when you enroll in cryopreservation. This trust is funded with $115,000 for entire body preservation. $25,000 is been aside for neuro preservation (only the head). Membership is another service provided by the company. First, depending on your age, there are monthly membership dues that range from $17 to $100. There is an extra $60 yearly fee for each child you choose to include.
Scientific and ethical discussion
There are moral and scientific concerns with cryonics. Critics contend that cryonics may be misguiding individuals in their quest for a revived life without a clear road to it. The AIIMS Rajkot Department of Anatomy raises a number of important challenges, including how to prevent frozen tissues from degrading over time, how to stop the freezing process without endangering the patient, and how to give recovered people their personality, memories, and sense of self again. These difficulties highlight how theoretical cryonics is.
The efforts of businesses like Alcor continue to push the envelope of what may one day be achievable, even while the science of rejuvenation is currently, at best, theoretical.
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