A human cryopreservation unit ... approval has been granted for Australia's first cryonics facility.
Credit: Alcor Life Extension Foundation
SYDNEY, 4 September 2006: Australia's first cryonics facility - a site for storing frozen bodies in the hope that medical advances will one day allow their revival - has been approved to commence operating.
Philip Rhoades, 54, plans to construct the facility near Cowra, in central western New South Wales. His goal, initially, is to provide a storage facility for himself and his family. "My parents are both science types, like me, and with my siblings are interested in this great experiment," Rhoades told the Herald-Sun newspaper.
While nobody has yet been successfully revived, cryonics supporters cite recent advances in molecular biology and nanotechnology as reasons to hope that current problems associated with freezing and rewarming bodies will be overcome in the future.
The process of freezing and thawing can cause irreparable damage to cells. The main causes are the formation of ice crystals inside and outside cells, salts and other solutes reaching toxic concentrations inside cells as they are excluded from solidifying water, and dehydration effects.
Small biological samples such as embryos and sperm are commonly stored at –80°C or in liquid nitrogen (which boils at –196°C). Storing entire human bodies, however, presents a much greater challenge.
Some of these problems can be overcome through the use of 'cryoprotectants' like glycerol. These lower the freezing temperature of water, avoiding the formation of ice crystals. Instead, the water forms a glassy solid in a process known as vitrification.
Some of those who study the field - known as cryonicists - hope that by replacing the blood with cryoprotectants soon after death, more parts of the body can be protected from freezing and thawing damage. A major hurdle is that cryoprotectants themselves are generally toxic.
Although the Cowra facility has only been approved for Rhoades and his family, in the longer term he expects a range of people to be interested, including those who are "dissatisfied with the ‘natural' duration of a human life".
"There are just too many interesting and exciting things to do and see for one lifetime," said Rhoades.
Building is expected to commence within six months, followed by recruitment of a stand-by team to do the actual cryonic suspensions. According to Rhoades, his will be the third cryonics facility in the world - the other two are both in the United States.
One of the conditions of the approval granted by the New South Wales Department of Health and the Cowra Shire Council is that in the event of failure in the cryonic storage process, burial or cremation may be required.
The cryonics facility will not operate commercially in the foreseeable future, so Rhoades plans to subsidise the centre with a range of "complementary and compatible ventures" at Cowra, he said. These include a 'Life Extension Village' catering for the elderly and younger people in need of medical supervision, a short term suspended animation research facility, and an Alpaca farm.
"I have always been interested in science and science fiction," said Rhoades. "I just assumed I could live forever because science and medical technology would have the problems sorted out.
"When I started getting older I was fairly disappointed to find out that things had not quite gone to plan in this area," he added. "I decided I had to personally get involved – out of self interest primarily, but also because there are a lot of people who don't even get the three score and 10 years."
