Skip to content

MEDIA RESOURCES

For accredited and approved media outlets

Cryonics_Institute_Logo

24355 Sorrentino Court    •    Clinton Township, MI 48035-3239, USA  • Phone: 1 (586) 791-5961    •    Email: info@cryonics.org


CONTACT:  CI PRESIDENT: DENNIS KOWALSKI  dennis@cryonics.org

FACILITY:  CI OPERATIONS MANAGER: ANDY ZAWACKI   info@cryonics.org
MEDIA:   CI MARKETING: DOUGLAS GOLNER   dg@cryonics.org

* For interviews by accredited media outlets, please contact us.

dg@cryonics.org or info@cryonics.org.

* Files only available for use by outlets and organizations pre-approved by CI.

For approval please contact dg@cryonics.org or info@cryonics.org.

Photos, documents, charts and more available HERE

Membership and Patient Statistics

_CI_Member_MapMARCH2024

Overview of Cryonics

The fundamental goal of cryonics is to give people a “second chance at life.” Our aim is to greatly extend human lifespans and improve quality of life through applied technology – both present day and especially emerging future technology.

The process of cryopreservation involves cooling a legally-dead person to liquid nitrogen temperature where all physical decay essentially stops – with the goal of preserving tissues, organs and especially the brain with its associated memories and personality as much as possible. A person held in this state is termed a “cryopreserved patient,” because we do not consider the legal definition of “death” as a permanently irreversible state. We are hopeful that the incredible advances being made today in biology, medicine, computers, nanotechnology and much more may eventually point to a future where advanced science will be able to revive these patients and restore them to health and even renewed youth.

Essentially, the concept is to “buy time” until technology catches up and is able to fully repair and restore the human body. Cryonicists are people who believe this future is not only possible, but highly probable and who have decided to take action in the present for the chance at a renewed life in the future. Cryonics Insitute patients currently cryopreserved at CI include people from all walks of life and all ages – chefs, students, secretaries, professors and many others.

We cannot guarantee that this will happen in the future, but we are optimistic that our lifespans may be significantly, even radically, extended through cryonics.

Since 1962, the average lifespan has increased dramatically. Nanotechnology (which holds the promise of future biological repair) has become a major industry. Prominent companies, including Google, have begun focused efforts to retard and reverse aging. The promise of cryonics is becoming more apparent and more exciting.

The History of Cryonics            

Robert Ettinger (“The Father of Cryonics”) introduced the concept of cryonics in 1962 with the publication of his seminal book, “The Prospect of Immortality.” The visionary new concept attracted worldwide attention when Doubleday published the first of several successful commercial editions, including several foreign language editions. Ettinger delved deeper into the subject of cryonics and life extension with his next book, “Man Into Superman,” further advancing the cryonics movement.

The idea of greatly extending lifespans through the science of cryonics captured peoples’ imaginations and organizations quickly sprang up in support of the concept. Ettinger himself formed The Immortalist Society (originally the Cryonics Society of Michigan, and later the Cryonics Association) in 1967 to further promote and explore the concept of cryonics. 

Less than a decade later, in 1976, Ettinger and other members of The Immortalist Society took the next logical step and formed a new organization to put the concept of cryonics into actual practice. Their goal was to offer “The Prospect of Immortality” to the public through reliable and affordable cryonics services. The Cryonics Institute was formed in 1976 featuring the world’s first fully-operational cryonics facility, located in Clinton Township, Michigan.

Since then, The Cryonics Institute has been dedicated to advancing the concept and practice of cryonics, attracting members world-wide. Membership has grown to over 1,000 members in dozens of countries, including over 100 patients cryopreserved at the Michigan facility.