A science magazine is offering one
reader the chance to have their body
frozen after death in the hope that
medical science will one day revive
them.
Leading researchers have pooh-poohed
the concept of "cryonics", in which the
whole body, or even just the head of a
dead person, is plunged into liquid
nitrogen and put in a storage tank.
However, this has not prevented a
steady stream of rich volunteers
prepared to pay thousands of dollars to
book their place in the freezer.
The theory is that the deep-frozen
tissue could be thawed out many decades
from now when medicine has worked out a
way to cure whatever was the cause of
death.
However, most experts believe that
the freezing process itself causes so
much damage to cells that revival is
made impossible.
Icy prize
But this has not stopped New
Scientist magazine organising a
competition with free cryonic
preservation as the prize.
when you're dead, you're
dead
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Professor Steve Jones,
University College London
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The winner would be taken upon their
death to the Cryonics Institute in
Michigan, US, treated with chemicals to
make the freezing process less damaging,
then immersed in liquid nitrogen at a
temperature of minus 196 degrees
Celsius.
The competition small print promises
to "heal and revive" the winner's corpse
when and if medical technology allows.
Normally this process would cost
approximately £28,000.
Enthusiast
Chrisse de Rivaz, chairperson of
Cryonics Europe - and planning to have
her own body frozen when the time comes
- is understandably enthusiastic about
the prospect.
She told the Today programme: "We're
all very excited by it and we hope it
will increase public awareness of
cryonics. It's a very good prize."
However, Professor Steve Jones, a
genetics expert from University College
London, told the programme: "There's a
lot of misunderstanding over this -
cells have been frozen and revived, as
have smaller items such as sperm and
eggs, but the fact is, when you're dead,
you're dead.
"Your brain doesn't work, your cells
change instantly - there are all sorts
of macabre evidence of what a one-way
street it is."
He added: "The idea of immortality is
much older - I pass by the stuffed body
of my college's founder every morning on
the way to my office. That's a lot
cheaper."
However, there is a way for a
doubting competition winner to cash in
in this life: there is the option of a
Hawaiian holiday instead.
