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A: Specific details change according to our latest research and capabilities. As in every other field, there's progress, and when there is, we upgrade what we do. But in general, the procedure involves initial cool-down with use of anticoagulant, removing the blood, and replacing it with a cryoprotectant -- a solution that minimizes or eliminates freezing damage. This is followed by further cooling, and then long-term immersion in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of −196ºC. We have more details on the topic on our website at Outline of CI Cryopreservation Procedures
Q: How soon after legal death must the process begin? At what point does delay cause irreversible damage?
A: Nobody knows. The ultimate capabilities (or limits) of future technology can't be predicted.
We work on the assumption that the sooner we begin, the better. All we can say for certain is that no scientist we're aware of has demonstrated or even claims to know at what exact point after death, all memory and information is irretrievably lost. Some scientists have gone on record that, given the evolution in computing capacity and nanotechnological capabilities, damage resulting from a delay of many hours may be largely reversible.
The key term to remember here is not "damage" but "reversible". There are cases of people with massive strokes or war injuries who have had much of their brains literally destroyed - yet, who have recovered memories and neurological functions and returned to quite normal lives. And they've done it spontaneously, even without the help of any future high technology.
Take actress Patricia Neal, who came back from a crippling stroke to give award-winning film performances. Or consider former secretary James Brady, who was shot through the brain at point blank range -- and whose latest book is on the shelves at Barnes & Noble nearly two decades later.
A long wait prior to cryopreservation does damage the brain. Maybe worse than shooting bullets through it. But evidence seems to show that the brain may be a great deal tougher than most of us think. Damage -- even severe damage -- can and has been overcome, and scientific research is pushing the envelope further back every day.
Q: Do you have a traveling team that will go to members at a distance in an emergency?
A: Members can contract with our funeral director, and sometimes with CI volunteers to get Standby. CI Members wanting professional cryonics Standby and Transport can contract with Suspended Animation, Inc.
The Suspended Animation team will wait by the bedside of a terminally ill CI Member who has contracted for their procedures. Upon pronouncement of death, the team will immediately apply the latest technology in cooling and cardiopulmonary support to keep the tissues and cells of the brain and body in viable condition -- and to minimized deterioration of brain and body tissues. As of 2006 these procedures can be funded entirely by life insurance. There is a great benefit to having professional cryonics Standby and Transport, but whether the benefits are worth the costs is something that each CI Member must decide. (For more details, see SUSPENDED ANIMATION STANDBY FOR CI MEMBERS and Quantifying Ischemic Damage for Cryonics Rescue.)
Usually CI Members utilize local funeral directors, partially because they are
unfamiliar with the new Suspended Animation procedures and partially because
of the costs.
Suspended Animation makes full use of funeral directors to support the application
of their procedures.
Q:
How long has CI been around?
A:
In a sense, CI was there from the very beginning, since it is with CI Founder
Robert Ettinger's first book, THE PROSPECT OF IMMORTALITY, that the cryonics
movement started in 1962.
In
the years just after that, a number of groups were formed which based themselves
on the principles elaborated by Robert Ettinger, including the Immortalist
Society, CI's sister organization, in 1969. It was first called the Cryonics
Society of Michigan, then the Cryonics Association, and now the Immortalist
Society (IS). IS was always intended for education and research, and still
is.
The
Cryonics Institute was incorporated in 1976, to provide actual physical services,
because many of our people were dissatisfied with the existing service
organizations.
Q:
How big is CI?
A:
Membership is as follows.
CI is currently second largest in the world in terms of membership. We're first in number of cryonics patients. Alcor maintains mostly neurosuspension patients. Alcor membership statistics can be found here.
Currently we have over $1,000,000 in cash and other liquid assets such as stocks and bonds, plus our building (free and clear) and our equipment and supplies.
Q: How is CI organized and run?
A: A copy of our By-Laws is available on our web site. CI is a Michigan nonprofit corporation; its term of existence is "perpetual." There are no stockholders, and the officers and directors are unpaid. The voting members elect the Directors, and the Directors elect the officers. The voting members control overall policy, and the Directors control details of policy.
Q: What is the legal status of the Cryonics Institute?
A: Since January 2004 the Cryonics Institute has operated as a licensed, regulated cemetery in the State of Michigan. Cryonics is not illegal in any State or Province in North American, although the Province of British Columbia has a law prohibiting the marketing of cryonics. Even the British Columbia government, however, has given assurances that BC citizens are not prohibited from making cryonics arrangements and that BC funeral directors are not prohibited from assisting in cryonics cases. (See the July, 2006 clarification of the British Columbia anti-cryonics law.)
Q: Can a prospective member visit the facility? Where is it?
A: The Cryonics Institute is in Clinton Township, Michigan, northeast of Detroit, about 45 minutes from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Members and prospective members are always welcome, of course.
We do ask that anyone stopping by make arrangements with our office beforehand as to the time and date, so that necessary office work or patient care isn't interrupted.
Q: Can relatives view the patients?
A: Relatives are always welcome to visit. The patients are held in cryostats in protective apparel, and so can't be directly viewed. We do have - and welcome - photographs of our patients, which we display in the Institute conference room, to remind us daily of the people we're caring for.
Q: What if a relative calls about cryopreserving a patient who has already died?
A: In most such cases, nothing can be done. CI can't jeopardize itself and its current patients by accepting a new patient completely out of the blue. It takes time to establish that the relative calling has the exclusive legal right to arrange a cryopreservation, whether a cryopreservation was in accord with the patient's wishes, whether the person calling can afford the full payment (which is due upon death) and whether the person is making an emotional decision that might be regretted later.
Q: Is Walt Disney frozen?
A: We don't think so. For details, read The Story Behind the Urban Legend that Walt Disney was Frozen.
Q: Have any celebrities been cryopreserved?
A: Ted Williams is the most famous person whose cryopreservation is public knowledge. His 1996 Last Will and Testament requested, but Ted later cosigned a note with his son and daughter (which a third daughter refused to acknowledge) attesting to his desire for "biostasis" preservation. The validity of this request was supported by sworn affidavits from Ted's son and daughter.
A number of prominent people have publicly indicated sympathy and interest in cryonics - not just Walt Disney, but talk show host Larry King, boxer Muhammad Ali, science fiction writers Arthur C. Clarke, Frederick Pohl, Gregory Benford, Charles Platt, and Damien Broderick, not to mention mainstream novelists like Gore Vidal and James Halperin. (Halperin, in fact, is not just a signed-up cryonics member but author of The First Immortal, one of the best and most readable fictional treatments of the subject around.)
We should add that people famous in the entertainment field are not, after all, necessarily qualified to recommend cryonics -- but people in the scientific field are. And it's there that cryonics has picked up some very famous and significant names indeed.
Dr. Marvin Minsky of MIT, for instance, is widely considered to be the father of the field of Artificial Intelligence in computing and is a cryonics supporter and member.
Dr. K. Eric Drexler, who founded the field of nanotechnology virtually single-handed in the late 70's and early 80's, is a cryonics member whose book, Engines Of Creation, and whose various research initiatives, have provided a current blueprint for a successful, working cryonics.
Dr. Ralph Merkle of the world-famous Xerox Palo Alto Research Center is a leading cryonics activist and has produced some of the most impressive and decisive papers on cryonics in the field. His cryonics site at http://www.merkle.com/merkleDir/cryo.html is one of the most compelling collections of evidence for cryonics on the web, and lists the web pages of some 26 prominent PhD's and computer scientists who have seen the evidence and signed up for cryonics.
Q: Are there any alternatives to cryonic cryopreservation? What about arctic burial?
A: Some low cost alternatives to cryonics have been proposed, such as interment in arctic permafrost and chemical preservation with powerful fixatives such as those used to preserve organ and cell specimens for scientific study. The Cryonics Society of Canada has published an extensive collection of articles about permafrost burial and other low cost preservation methods on its web site. Included in this information is a list of funeral homes in northern Canada and Alaska which appear to be willing to perform permafrost burials. Three permafrost burials are known to have been performed to date in the Canadian arctic for preservation purposes.
Although almost no comparative research has been done on the various methods of preservation available (or potentially available), it appears that the greatest degree of both molecular structural preservation and long term molecular stability is achieved using conventional cryonic suspension in liquid nitrogen after perfusion with cryoprotectants. Other methods are not recommended except as a last resort.
Q: What were the ages of the oldest and youngest patients cryopreserved?
A: At CI, our oldest patient was 100 at time of death, and our youngest was a 21-year old automobile accident victim. Cryonics Institute Members run from young children (Members through their parents) up to very elderly.
Q: What are the occupations and backgrounds of your members?
CI members generally tend to be much better informed than average. We sometimes say, "Doctors choose cryonics, nine to one." That doesn't mean that 90% of all physicians are signed up, but it does mean that the cryonics organizations have about nine times as many doctor members as would be expected on a population proportionate basis. A similar statistic applies to Ph.D's, including those in various branches of biology.
There is a very high concentration of people with computer skills in cryonics. People who choose cryonics tend to be people who love technology and have a high regard for the idea that technology can solve problems that have never been solved before. Those working with computers tend to especially have this mindset.
Only a small fraction of the population may be actively involved in cryonics so far, but the best informed and educated people are by far the ones most likely to join.
Q: Some people consider cryonics a moneymaking scam.
A: Such people usually have little appreciation for the desire to survive and see the future and can only understand the profit motive. People who think cryonics is only about money would do better to investigate and find out for themselves. Suffice it to say, at CI, our organization's funds go toward patient care and toward strengthening the organization. Directors and Officers donate their time and services -- and sometimes their own money too.
This is not to say that our Directors, Officers and the many other volunteers that give of their time, their talents and their energy do not have selfish motives. Most are working for survival and for life in the future for themselves and their loved-ones. But they are often also motivated by the desire to make the possibilities of cryonics available to all who might want them. And many of us also enjoy working and associating with like-minded people who share our goals.
The simple fact is, CI has been in business for nearly thirty years. 'Scams' don't last thirty years. And if you'd like more proof than that, then check us out: we make our financial statements and our policies available to anyone who asks. CI exists for the benefit of its present and future patients -- nothing else.
(Incidentally, lawyers are also over-represented in CI, and they are not naïve or trusting types. If even lawyers are convinced they can trust us, maybe you should think about it too.)
[ Questions continued: CRYONICS: A Basic Introduction (Continued)]