Company charges R4-million to bring you back from the dead
It's called cryopreservation, and a German company believes it may one day be able to bring frozen bodies back to life.
Death is something that many people fear, but it is a reality of life we cannot avoid.
However, Tomorrow Bio, a start-up company based in Germany, hopes that death won't be forever - at least for those with $222,603 (R3.9-million) to spare.
According to its website, the start-up was founded by "doctors, engineers, and entrepreneurs to further Biostasis science and provide a high-quality cryopreservation".
The company plans to freeze people's bodies immediately after death and bring them back to life - in the future.
According to co-founder Fernando Azevedo Pinheiro, that future might not be as far off as you think.
"Personally, I believe that within my lifetime - I'm currently 40 years old - we may witness the safe cryopreservation and reanimation of complex organisms," he told the Daily Mail earlier this month.
What is cryopreservation?
The company has reportedly frozen six people already. The Daily Mail reports that 650 people have also paid a membership fee for the service should death come knocking at their door.
Some customers have also frozen their pets.
Tomorrow Bio has big plans for the future. It wants to "build a world where people can choose how long they want to live -independent of where they are, who they are, and their financial resources".
For now, it will cost you an arm and a leg. If you want to preserve your brain only, you'll have to fork out $83,473 (R1,486,171). There's also a monthly membership fee of $55 (R980).
According to an article on ScienceDirect, "Cryopreservation, also called freeze-thawing, is a widely used method for long-term storage of cells or tissues at an extremely low temperature such as −80 °C or even lower".
Cryopreservation has been used for fertility preservation, stem cell storage, and medical research for many years.
Tomorrow Bio is taking things one step further!
The company has specialised ambulances on standby in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Zurich, ready to spring into action after one of its customers has died of natural causes.
These ambulances, which serve as mobile surgery rooms, are designed to quickly help preserve the bodies.
"Bodily fluids are replaced with cryoprotectant en route. The body is taken to a storage facility in Switzerland; cooled in liquid to -198°C; the customer is rejuvenated in the future when technology has advanced," the Daily Mail reports.
While cryopreservation that involves bringing dead bodies back to life raises ethical concerns, Pinheiro says a lot of people just want to experience more of life.
"Many customers are fascinated by the possibilities of future technologies and experiences, such as space travel. For some, the primary motivation is the fear of dying. Cryopreservation offers them hope and a sense of security, providing a potential path to extend their lives. Others, like myself, simply love living and feel that 80 years is not enough time to explore all that life has to offer. The idea of extending life and having more time to achieve personal goals and dreams is incredibly appealing," he told the publication.
ALSO READ: The minimum wage in South Africa is R27
HOW TO LISTEN TO EAST COAST RADIO
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the FM (frequency modulation) spectrum between 94 and 95 FM on your radio.
- Listen live to ECR by clicking here or download the ECR App (iOS/Android).
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the DStv audio bouquet, channel 836.
- Switch to the audio bouquet on your Openview decoder and browse to channel 606
- Listen to us on Amazon Alexa.
Follow us on social media:
Main image credit: iStock/KatarzynaBialasiewicz