Have you ever wished you could see into the future? Not just
5 or 10 years ahead, but 100 or 200 years ahead? It may now be possible. The
field of cryogenics – the study of what happens to things at really low
temperatures – has spawned the process of cryonics. Cryonics is the process used to store human
bodies at really low temperatures in the hope of reviving them at a date in the
future.
There are a few myths that need to be dispelled regarding
this process. First, the procedure can only be performed on a person once they
are declared legally dead. You’re probably thinking “If a person is dead, how
can they be revived?” First, you have to define death. Legal death occurs when
the heart has stopped beating, but, cryonics scientists contend that some
cellular brain function still remains. Total death, they say, is the point at
which all brain function ceases. Once a person has been declared legally dead,
the cryonics team moves in to maintain circulation, minimize cell function, and
prevent blood from clotting in order to facilitate transport to a cryonics
facility.
Myth number two. Your
body will be frozen. The cryonics procedure, called vitrification, does not
actually “freeze” a person. The water in our cells would expand upon freezing
and would destroy our cells. So, the first step is to replace water with a type
of “human antifreeze” solution called a cryoprotectant. The body is then cooled
to a temperature of -130 C, placed in a container and immersed in a liquid
nitrogen bath to maintain a temperature of -196 C.
Myth number three.
Only the very rich can afford to be cryopreserved. Costs for this procedure range from $28,000 up
to $150,000. Many cryonicists fund this fee by purchasing an insurance policy
that is payable upon death to the cryonics facility of their choice.
The main drawback to cryonic preservation, of course, is
that you have to be willing to bet on medical science advancing to the point
where a patient can be revived. This isn’t as far off as we may believe. Some
cryobiologists are predicting that by using nanotechnology (the use of
microscopic machines to manipulate single atoms), it will be possible to revive
a preserved person as early as 2040!
Of course, if you plan on being around that far in the
future, you also need to make sure you have assets available for when you are
revived. This is where the Personal
Revival Trust and its associated planning becomes relevant. A Personal Revival Trust is an irrevocable
trust with an income beneficiary, generally a cryonics organization, during the
period while a person is cryopreserved and then available to the trustmaker
when the revival process is complete.
For information regarding estate planning and cryonics, or
to schedule an appointment, call our office at (407) 977-8080.
