Welcome my dear friends to another episode of Curiosity! A series in which we will answer some of the questions that makes us all curious.
Its sounds terrible to imagine freezing your body after you die for very long time and reviving it in the future with much more technological advancement. But even if it sounds terrible, that might make us immortal one day. So is it even possible? That's what we are gonna discuss today. Lets find out the answer.
What do we mean by Freezing Bodies?
Freezing bodies is already being practiced. Soon after the death of a person, the body is kept into an ice bath to cool down the body (extremely cold) with the hope of reviving the body in the future by some scientific advancement. It's also called Cryonics. It can be easily confused with cryogenics which means study of things at very low temperature.
Theoretically, if the cells of the body are not damaged, then the body might be brought back to life. So, basically the idea of cryonics is preserving your dead body, so that it can be brought back to life in the future if the necessary technological advancement are achieved.
How is it done?
Soon, after the patient is legally and clinically pronounced dead the body of the patient is stabilized and brain is supplied with oxygen and blood. Similarly, body is also supplied with blood. Speed is the key factor here, immediately after the death this process is performed.
Fig: Process of Cryonics ( Credit)
After that, the body is packed in extremely cold ice and injected with anticoagulant to reduce the risk of blood clotting and to prevent any damage to the brain. The body is then cooled to the water freezing temperature and slowly blood is removed. Finally, a solution called "cryoprotectant" is injected into the body. It basically prevents the formation of ice crystals in the organs and tissues.
The body is further cooled and kept in a large container filled with liquid nitrogen with the temperature of -196 degree Celsius. Now , the body is successfully preserved. It can be also called as "ice mummy".
Is it being done?
Yes! it is already being done . A British girl who died from cancer is being preserved in liquid nitrogen solution. She might one day be brought back life if the necessary scientific advancement are made in the future. Knowing she had only weeks to live , she was desperately turned to cryogenics.
Fig : Cryonics container (credits)
There are only three organizations for cryonics, two in US and one in Russia. Eight days after she died she was brought to Cyonics insitute located near Detroit, Michigan.
The Parents paid about 37000 pound.
Conclusion
Practically, every type of cell has been successfully cryopreserved which is a big achievement. But its not ok to conclude that the cryonics of today combined with the science of future will bring a person back to life. For now it seems like like science fiction more than reality. But hey, even landing on moon was considered as science fiction once, this freezing our body could make us immortal in the near future.
That's it for this Episode guys. Hope you all liked it. If you did, Upvote and share your thoughts in the comment below. Thank you
Stay Curious.
Last Five Episodes:
Curiosity #35 | What Would happen If all the humans suddenly disappeared overnight?
Curiosity #34 How Can We Survive on Mars?
Curiosity #33 What makes Ebola so dangerous?
Curiosity #32 What Happens during a Heart attack?
Curiosity #31 Can Piranhas turn you Into Skeleton In minutes?