Becca Ziegler is only 24 years old, but her death has already been planned: Her body will be deep-frozen in liquid nitrogen to minus 200 degrees Celsius (minus 328 Fahrenheit).

Ziegler, an employee of a US tech firm based in Berlin, has signed up for Tomorrow Biostasis, a startup in the German capital that offers to cryogenically freeze a person’s body after their death.

When the time comes, a medical team will pump him with a chemical solution to stop ice crystals from forming in his body and then transport his mortal remains to a storage facility in Switzerland.

Our hope is that one day medical technology It may have advanced enough to bring him back to life. Many experts dismissed this gamble on the future as far-fetched, but Ziegler decided to take the chance.

“I wonder what the future will be like and I love life in general,” said the Californian, who works in education technology.

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“So if I can give myself more time, that’s really appealing.”

Once the exclusive pursuit of eccentric billionaires, cryogenic freezing (also known as cryonics) has become more accessible in recent years.

Many companies offering cryopreservation have emerged in the United States and elsewhere, and around 500 people are thought to have been frozen worldwide so far.

According to an enduring legend, Walt DisneyMickey Mouse’s creator is one of them, but this was debunked as the BBC reported in a 2019 report that there was “zero evidence” for this.

It is thought that Tomorrow Biostasis, founded in 2020, will be the first company to offer this service. Europe. It offers to freeze and preserve your body after death for a monthly membership fee of 50 Euros.

A lump sum payment of 200,000 euros ($216,000) is also required at the time of death – or 75,000 euros if you choose to have your brain frozen only. to be It will be covered by life insurance payment.

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liquid nitrogen

“One of the main goals of this company is to reduce the cost… thus making cryopreservation available to anyone who chooses to do it,” said Emil Kendziorra, one of the co-founders of Tomorrow Biostasis.

Kendziorra, 38, of Darmstadt, West Germany, studied medicine and initially worked in cancer research, but said he was frustrated by the slow progress of developments in the field.

“The big advantage of cryopreservation is that it’s something you can do right now,” he said.

When a client dies, Tomorrow Biostasis promises to dispatch a specially equipped ambulance and a medical team as soon as possible, which will begin cooling the body using ice and water.

The body is then infused with a “cryoprotectant” and transported to the facility in Switzerland, where it is stored in a chamber surrounded by liquid nitrogen and cooled to minus 200 degrees Celsius.

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Tomorrow Biostasis says it currently has about 700 paying members and had cryopreserved four by the end of last year.

The typical customer is 30 to 40 years old, healthy, works in technology and is more male than female, Kendziorra said.

no warranty

No cryopreserved person has ever been brought back to life, but advocates say recent advances in technology make that possibility more plausible.

In an experiment conducted almost a decade ago, scientists said they were able to freeze the brain of a rabbit and preserve it in nearly perfect condition.

And this year, researchers at China’s Fudan University reported using a new technique to freeze-thaw human brain tissue to restore normal function.

However, some scientists express deep doubts about the possibility of a return to life in the future.

Holger Reinsch, head of the Cryo Competence Center at the ILK Dresden research institute for refrigeration technologies, said that resuscitating a human being is still a remote possibility.

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“We are quite critical of the concept of cryonics… Personally, I would advise you to oppose such an initiative,” he said.

“The magic limit for life-sustaining cryopreservation of tissue structures is the fingernail-sized heart of a frog, and that hasn’t changed since the 1970s.”

Even Kendziorra admitted that there are no guarantees.

“I think there’s a good chance of that, but am I sure about it? Absolutely not.”

But no matter what happens in the future, Ziegler is confident he won’t regret his decision.

“It’s weird in some ways,” he admitted. “But on the other hand, the alternative is to be put in a box on the ground and be eaten by worms.”

Source: AFP