From the depths of science fiction, cryonics presents the individual with an opportunity to cheat death and awaken in a technologically advanced future. Tim Gibson, CEO of Cryonics UK, outlines how his company operates and what his vision of the future of mortality will be.
In sci-fi space movies such as Interstellar or Passenger, astronauts are frozen in hibernation as a means of surviving extremely long journeys through space. This idea is taken one step further with the venture of cryonics, offering a service of freezing your brain in the hopes that future scientists will have the technology at hand to be able revive your consciousness.
Currently in the UK, there is only one company that is recognised in the field of cryonics, aptly named Cryonics UK. It is a volunteer lead company run by CEO Tim Gibson, who signed up to Volunteer for the company at just 19 years old.
Since 2009, Mr Gibson has organised the training and deployment of volunteers who aid in preparing the bodies of customers who wish to be cryogenically frozen. Mr Gibson says:
“What we do is train teams to be able to work with the emergency response, in a typical scenario we would deploy a team of around four people to wherever the person is, whether at home or in a hospice a couple days before the individual is set to pass away, due to the predictable way in which people die, doctors are able to tell us when someone is close to death and we sit and wait until they pass away.”
Once the patient has passed away, then the cryonics team spurs into action.
“As soon as they pass away, we put them on a ventilator and put them into an ice bath to cool them down. We do this to slow the body’s metabolic demand, meaning the rate in which the body deteriorates slows down. Then the body gets sent to an operating theatre, typically
Mortuary facilities as it’s the easiest, then we do a blood washout and cover them in protective chemicals that stop them from experiencing severe damage when they are frozen. When all is done, we then ship the body to other companies who deal with the storage.”
Dealing directly with people who have only recently passed away can seem daunting for some new volunteers. Mr Gibson adds:
“Once you first come across a dead person it’s a bit of a shock, you are trained to be freaked out, as a kid you know we were all brought up to be frightened of it but it only really takes 10 minutes to get over it and now it doesn’t phase me at all. Now It’s as easy for me to pick up someone who’s passed away as it is to pick up a big baby.”
When it comes to Cryonics. Customers can choose between either full body preservation
or head only preservation. Full body preservation tends to be the more expensive option with Alcor, the leading American cryonic company, advertising a $220,000 out-of-the pocket charge for such a service. Mr Gibson says:
“Personally I am opting to be head only [preservation] .I started off wanting full body [preservation] but a hardcore cryonics person would probably say full body is not the best option as basically what we are trying to do is save brain information. If you start focusing on the body it diverts your efforts and attention to the body.
“For instance If you are focusing on preserving your big toe then you’re not worrying as much about how the brain will preserve, I would say head only is a better option. All the vital data is in your head.”
One of the biggest criticisms surrounding the field of cryonics is that it relies solely on the fact that sometime in the future, the human race will have the technological means to bring the frozen brain (and in some cases body) of a deceased person back to life. Tim Gibson says:
“I think the one thing that cryonics people realise is the inevitable growth of technology and the only thing that’s gonna stop that, is the demise of the human race before that technology comes, which would probably be because of nuclear war.
“I personally imagine a future where you can scan the data of the brain and then starting from scratch, be able to build a new body, I can see us building something into our DNA so we don’t have to grow old anymore and where the only possible way you can die is through an accident, there will be fully functioning mechanical arms and legs and replaceable body parts.
We could even ask the question: why does the heart have to be biological? We could replace it with a mechanical pump so you never have to have to rely on a heart again. It all sounds a bit like sci-fi but I don’t think sci-fi is too far off what the future will look like.”