The science-fiction dream of suspended animation is inching closer to reality, with a German startup offering individuals the chance to have their bodies cryogenically preserved for a fee of $200,000, with the ambitious promise of revival in a future where medical technology has advanced sufficiently.
Tomorrow.Bio, based in Berlin, is Europe’s pioneering cryonics company. Founded by former cancer researcher Dr. Emil Kendziorra and engineer Fernando Azevedo Pinheiro, the company offers long-term cryopreservation services for individuals after they have been legally declared dead. The goal is to store them at ultra-low temperatures until future scientific breakthroughs can not only revive them but also treat and reverse their original cause of death, effectively offering a “second chance at life.”
The process involves swiftly retrieving the deceased via specialized “cryo-ambulances” that initiate cooling and stabilization. The body is then transported to a long-term storage facility in Switzerland, operated by the European Biostasis Foundation. Here, the body is cooled to a staggering -196 degrees Celsius in liquid nitrogen, a state known as biostasis, where all biological processes are effectively halted indefinitely.
“This is not just science fiction anymore; it’s a mission-driven endeavor rooted in the belief that scientific progress will continue to accelerate,” stated Dr. Kendziorra in a recent interview. “We are focusing on preserving the very structures crucial for memory, like synapses, using methods that aim for ice-free preservation to maintain cellular integrity.”
Tomorrow.Bio charges approximately $200,000 for whole-body preservation, with an option for brain-only preservation at around $80,000. The company has already preserved 20 people and 10 pets, with hundreds more individuals signed up for the service. Their typical clients, averaging 36 years old, often come from the tech sector, reflecting a forward-thinking demographic interested in pushing the boundaries of life.
While the prospect of revival remains a significant scientific hurdle – as currently no one knows how to reanimate a cryopreserved human – Tomorrow.Bio is actively funding research into critical areas like nano-rewarming, which uses magnetic nanoparticles to achieve rapid and uniform heating of tissues. They have even funded early research into cooling and rewarming a rat to sub-zero temperatures, a small but meaningful step toward validating these methods for larger organisms.
This bold venture continues to ignite ethical and scientific debates about the very definitions of life and death, and the extent to which technology might one day alter humanity’s fate, offering a tantalizing glimpse into a potentially immortal future.
