1.

INTRODUCTION
Cryonics is derived from the Greek word (kryos), meaning cold. Cryonics is the practice of preserving human bodies in extremely cold temperatures with the hope of reviving them sometime in the future. The idea is that, if someone has "died" from a disease that is incurable today, he or she can be "frozen" and then revived in the future when a cure has been discovered. A person preserved this way is said to be in cryonic suspension. Human cryopreservation is not currently reversible. In the United States, cryonics can only be legally performed on humans after pronounced legally dead. Legally dead means that the heart must have been stop beating. According to scientists who perform cryonics, "legally dead" is not the same as "totally dead." Total death, they say, is the point at which all brain function ceases. Legal death occurs when the heart has stopped beating, but some cellular brain function remains. Technology is problematizing death. Technology has frozen conditions between life and death that had previously only been considered in mythology, fantasy or philosophy. Until the advent of the respirator, the cessation of spontaneous breathing immediately led to the cessation of circulation and unrecoverable brain damage. Since the 1960s we have

continually expanded the gray areas between life and death, stabilizing one process after another in the previously inexorable path from life to dust.

1.1WHAT IS CRYONICS?
Cryonics is a technique designed to save lives and greatly extend lifespan. It involves cooling legally-dead people to liquid nitrogen temperature where physical decay essentially stops, in the hope that future technologically advanced scientific procedures will someday be able to revive them and restore them to youth and good health. A person held in such a state is said to be a "cryopreserved patient", because we do not regard the cryopreserved person as being really "dead".

2.HISTORY
Robert Ettinger is widely regarded as the "father of cryonics" (although he has often said that he would rather be the grandson). Mr. Ettinger earned a Purple Heart in World War II as a result of injury to his leg by an artillery shell. He subsequently became a college physics teacher after earning two Master's Degrees from Wayne State University. (He has often been erroneously called "Doctor" and "Professor".) Benjamin Franklin suggested in a famous 1773 letter that it might be possible to preserve human life in a suspended state for centuries. However the modern era of cryonics began in 1962 when Michigan College physics teacher Robert Ettinger proposed in a privately published book, The Prospect of Immortality, that freezing people may be a way to reach future medical technology. The actual word cryonics was invented by Karl Werner in 1965 in conjunction with the founding of the Cryonics Society of New York (CSNY) by Curtis Henderson and Saul Kent that same year. The first person to be cryogenically frozen was a 73-year-old psychologist, Dr. James Bedford, who was suspended in 1967. His body is reportedly still in good condition at Alcor Life Extension Foundation. In 1974 Curtis Henderson, who had been maintaining three cryonics patients for the Cryonics Society of New York, was told by the New York Department of Public Health that he must close down his cryonics facility immediately or be fined $1,000 per day. The three cryonics patients were returned to their families

3.HAS ANYONE BEEN PRESERVED USING CRYONICS?

Dozens of people are being stored in cryonic facilities. Probably the most famous of them is baseball legend Ted Williams. But, no one has been actually revived, because the technology to do so still does not exist. Even though people in cryonic suspension havent yet been revived, living organisms can be and have been brought back from a dead or neardead state. Cryobiologists are hopeful that nanotechnology will make revival a reality someday. Nanotechnology uses microscopic machines to manipulate single atoms to build or repair virtually anything including human cells and tissues. Some cryobiologists predict that the first cryonic revival might occur somewhere around the year 2040.

4. PREMISES OF CRYONICS
The central premise of cryonics is that memory, personality, and identity are stored in cellular structures and chemistry, principally in the brain. While this view is widely accepted in medicine, and brain activity is known to stop and later resume under certain conditions, it is not generally accepted that current methods preserve the brain well enough to permit revival in the future. Cryonics advocates point to studies showing that high concentrations of cryoprotectant circulated through the brain before cooling can prevent structural damage from ice, preserving the fine cell structures of the brain in which memory and identity presumably reside. To its detractors, the justification for the actual practice of cryonics is unclear, given present limitations of preservation technology. Currently cells, tissues, blood vessels, and some small animal organs can be reversibly cryopreserved. Some very small animals, such as water bears, can naturally survive preservation at cryogenic temperatures. Wood frogs can survive for a few months in a partially frozen state a few degrees below freezing, but this is not true cryopreservation. Cryonics advocates counter that demonstrably reversible preservation is not necessary to achieve the present-day goal of cryonics, which is preservation of basic brain information that encodes memory and personal identity. There is reason to believe that current cryonics procedures can preserve the anatomical basis of mind.[4] Proponents claim preservation of this information is sufficient to prevent information-theoretic death until future repairs might be possible. 3

5. HOW CRYONICS IS PERFORMED?

There are certain steps to preserve a person using cryonics. y Firstly the person who wants to be placed in cryonic suspension must join a cryonics facility. y When that person is pronounced legally dead an emergency response team from the facility springs into action. y Then the team stabilizes the persons body, supplying the brain with enough oxygen and blood to preserve minimal function until the body is transported to suspension facility.
y

Once the body is transported to the cryonics facility, the actual freez The cryonics team first removes he water from the body cells and replace it with glycerol-based chemical mixture, called a cryoprotectant. This process is called vitrification.

Fig.1. Water from body cells replaced with glycerol-based chemical mixture. y Once the water in the body is replaced with cryoprotectant, the body is cooled on a bed of dry ice until it reaches -130 C.

Fig.2. Body after replacing blood with glycerol based chemical and being cooled. y The next step is to insert the body into an individual container that is then placed into a large metal tank filled with liquid nitrogen at a temperature of about -190 C.

. Fig.3. Body placed in aluminium pod y The body is stored head down, so that if there were ever a leak in the tank, the brain would stay immersed in the freezing liquid.

5. ALCOR LIFE EXTENSION FOUNDATION

The largest cryonics organization today, in terms of membership, was established as a nonprofit organization by Fred and Linda Chamberlain in California in 1972 as the Alcor Society for Solid State Hypothermia (ALCOR). Alcor was named after a faint star in the Big Dipper. The name was changed to Alcor Life Extension Foundation in 1977.Today, only a handful of companies offer full cryo-suspension services, including Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona and the Cryonics Institute in Michigan. In early 2004, Alcor had more than 650 members and 59 patients in cryopreservation. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the world leader in cryonics, cryonics research, and cryonics technology. Alcor is a nonprofit organization located in Scottsdale, Arizona, founded in 1972. The Cryonics Institute (www.cryonics.org) in Clinton Township, Michigan, charges $28,000 for a full-body suspension, along with a one-time payment of $1,250. The Cryonics Institute does not do neurosuspension.

On July 16, 1976, Alcor performed its first human cryopreservation on Fred Chamberlain's father. That same year, research in cryonics began with initial funding provided by the Manrise Corporation.

FIG:

5.1 RESEARCH
In 2001, Alcor adapted cryoprotectant formulas from published scientific literature into a more concentrated formula capable of achieving ice-free preservation (Vitrification) of the human brain (neurovitrification). In 2005, the vitrification process was applied to the first whole-body subject (as opposed to brain-only). This resulted in vitrification of the brain and conventional cryopreservation of the rest of the body. Work is continuing towards achieving whole-body vitrification, which is limited by the ability to fully circulate the cryoprotectant throughout the body. The vitrification used since 2000 was switched to what Alcor said was a superior solution in 2005. Canadian billionaire Robert Miller, founder of Future Electronics, has provided research funding to Alcor in the past.

6. SOME IMPORTANT TERMS IN CRYONICS

1. Cryonic suspension: Cryonic suspension is a method of stabilizing the condition of someone who is terminally ill so that they can be transported to the medical care facilities that will be available in the late 21st or 22nd century. 2. Vitrification: Deep cooling without freezing is called vitrification not converting into crystalline structure.

3. Cryonicists: Cryonicists are people who use or advocate cryonics to greatly extending life and youth. 4. Cryoprotectant: A cryoprotectant is a substance that is used to protect biological tissue from freezing damage (damage due to ice formation). Conventional cryoprotectants are glycols. 5. Cryopreservation: Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperatures, such as (typically) 77 K or 196 C (the boiling point of liquid nitrogen). 6. Cryogenics:Cryogenics is low-temperature (below -100C) physics. The use of the word "cryogenics" when meaning "cryonics" is typically indicative of a person who has not seriously investigated cryonics.

7.NANOTECHNOLOGY AND CRYONICS

7.1 WHAT IS NANOTECHNOLOGY?
Nanotechnology is technology on the scale of nanometers ie, billionths (nano) of a meter one millionth of a millimeter. This is the size scale of atoms. Nanotechnology is the technology of manipulation of atoms to create molecules by design. K. Eric Drexler's book ENGINES OF CREATION foresees the application of nanotechnology to repair freezing damage in cryonics patients. Even if vitrification technology leads to suspended animation, nanotechnology may still be necessary to repair damage due to disease and aging. 7.2 NANO IN CRYONICS The prefix "nano-" means "one billionth"--a nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or roughly a few times the diameter of a hydrogen atom. Nanotechnology therefore means, as a first approximation, technology on the scale of atoms and molecules. Once the prospect of molecular nanotechnology became apparent, the grim prognosis for cryonics changed. Among cryonicists, some point to the promise of nanotech as evidence (not proof, but evidence) that it will become possible to revive, repair, and rejuvenate even the most badly damaged of our present and future patients. But others say "nanotech" should not be used as a mantra or as an excuse for complacency about our current freezing methods. Today, some people in Silicon Valley are even more optimistic. They prophesy a snowball effect, so that "molecular nanotech" will be up and running within twenty- five years. Cryonicists feel that it doesn't really matter whether it's twenty-five years, fifty years, or a century. Their patients 7

in cryonic suspension aren't in any hurry; they can wait almost indefinitely. The important thing is that a theoretical model now exists, showing how damage can be repaired. This would be hideously expensive at first. To develop tiny "assemblers" on a molecular scale will require a huge investment in research and development. But once the assemblers have been built, everything should be easy. The assemblers will make copies of themselves, and the copies will make more copies. After that, when you have enough assemblers, all you need to do is change their programming so they will build (or fix) something else instead. If this is doable (and it sounds as if it should be), we will quickly have huge economies of scale.

8. WHY CRYONICS?
Human beings are all the same kind of animal and much like many other animals. We, human animals are mainly social beings and most of us experience loss when others die, as well as fears of separation or loneliness. We are not entirely clear about what is death. Indeed, our recorded history is bloodied with the disagreements between religions and cultures which hold very different views about what is life and death. However, today we do have scientific agreement on how to observe and measure biology in its life and decay, from the minute cellular existence to the total biological system of a healthy body and a dying and then dead body. All science deals in probabilities, and it is possible that cryonically preserved person is not dead because if this person can be revived, then he is not dead by definition.

9. THE FUTURE OF CRYONICS

Cryonicists hope that cryonics medical experiment will not be a failure, that sometime in the future humanity will have enough scientific knowledge to repair preservation damage to a patients structure. Some cryonicists expect that in future, miniature surgical robots will make treatment of individual cells within the body possible. The advent of this nanotechnology shows the importance of cellular level and our ability to manipulate it. Some other cryonicists are of a transhumanist bent, believing that the technological advantages will be so great to allow us to control physical reality at a fundamental level enabling an evolutionary leap into an ageless and disease-less universe. Other cryonicists are religious and do not believe that there is any conflict between cryonics and other doctrines.

All cryonicists have their own outlooks on life. Cryonics is not a fringe cult that preys on human fear of death. It is a heroic medical experiment which aims to save lives by preventing death and decay.

10. FINANCIAL ISSUES

Costs of cryonics vary greatly, ranging from $28,000 for cryopreservation by the Cryonics Institute, to $155,000 for whole body cryopreservation for the American Cryonics Societys most expensive plan. Alcors whole body preservation is priced at $150,000 (or $80,000 for neuropreservation of the head alone) plus a ~$500 annual membership fee during life by Alcor. After payment of an initiaton fee, ACS full members pay an annual fee of $300 currently To some extent these cost differences reflect differences in how fees are quoted. The Cryonics Institute fee doesnt include standby (a team that begins procedures at bedside), transportation costs, or funeral director expenses outside of Michigan, which must be purchased as extras. CI Members wanting Standby and Transport from cryonics professionals can contract for additional payment to the Florida-based company Suspended Animation, Inc. While cryonics is sometimes suspected of being greatly profitable, the high expenses of doing cryonics are well documented. The expenses are comparable to major transplant surgeries. The largest single expense, especially for whole body cases, is the money that must be set aside to generate interest to pay for maintenance in perpetuity.The most common method of paying for cryonics is life insurance, which spreads the cost over many years. Cryonics advocates are quick to point out that such insurance is especially affordable for young people. It has been claimed that cryonics is affordable for the vast majority of people in the industrialized world who really want it and plan for it in advance.

11. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

The advantages and disadvantages of increased popularity for cryonics are as follows:

11.1 ADVANTAGES
y More membership fees; hence more money for research, properly paid employees, new facilities, and equipment. 9

Increasing public acceptance of the idea; hence less backlash from government agencies, from relatives of people who deanimate, from hospitals, and so on.

Indirect social benefits that could accrue as a result of more people taking a long-term view of life.

11.2 DISADVANTAGES
y Severe strain on resources during the difficult transition from voluntary help to properly paid professionals. y Many new members, some of whom may become active in ways that are unpredictable and uncontrollable, with unknown effects on cryonics organizations and the public image of cryonics. Dilution of the dedicated spirit that only a small group of enthusiasts can possess. y Errors and failures resulting from breakdowns in communication, which will be more frequent as the size of organizations increases. y Bureaucratization of hitherto tight-knit organizations, so that they tend to become impersonal and inefficient.

12. CONCLUSION
The current definitions of death, worked out twenty years ago to address the technology of the respirator, are already falling apart. Some are suggesting we dispense with death as a unitary marker of human status, while others are pushing for the recognition of a neocortical standard. The twenty first century will begin to see a shift toward consciousness and

personhood-centered ethics as a means of dealing not only with brain death, but also with extra-uterine feti, intelligent chimeras, human-machine cyborgs, and the other new forms of life that we will create with technology. The struggle between anthropocentrists and

biofundamentalists, on the one hand, and transhumanists on the other, will be fierce. Each proposal for a means of extending human capabilities beyond our natural and God-given limitations, or blurring the boundaries of humanness, will be fought politically and in the courts. But in the end, because of increasing secularization, the tangible advantages of the new technologies, and the internal logic of Enlightenment values, I believe we will begin to develop a bioethics that accords meaning and rights to gradations of self-awareness,

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regardless of platform.This transformation is unlikely to cause the cryonically suspended to be automatically reclassified as living however.

10. REFERENCES
[1]. http://www.alcor.org/ [2]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics [3]. http://www.futurescience.com/nanocryo.html [4]. http://science.howstuffworks.com/cryonics1.htm

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