Melbourne woman's body the second to be cryogenically frozen by Southern Cryonics

Australia Broadcast Center

6 days ago

In a nondescript facility near Holbrook in New South Wales, a woman's body has been cryogenically frozen in the hope that science will one day revive her.
Her body is one of two that now lie inside the Southern Cryonics facility, suspended in liquid nitrogen at around -200 degrees Celsius.
On July 4, the Melbourne woman died in hospital from chronic illness.
Within minutes, Southern Cryonics staff waiting in Melbourne initiated the "cooling process", packing her body in iced water for transport to a funeral home.
There, equipped with 250 kilograms of specialist tools, chemicals and cooling agents, a doctor and two clinical perfusionists from a company called Australian Blood Management began a further cooling process lasting six hours.
The woman's body was then encased in its final resting place — a cryogenic chamber filled with liquid nitrogen at Holbrook.
So far, more than 600 people around the world have undergone the radical procedure.
Cryonics is high on spectacle, but critically short on scientific support.
RMIT cell and tissue cryopreservation expert Saffron Bryant said despite the excitement surrounding cryonics, the science was far from catching up.
Dr Bryant said the challenge was in the freezing process itself because when water inside cells turned to ice it expanded and caused damage.
To mitigate that damage, scientists use cryoprotective agents — special chemicals that reduce ice formation — but it is a different story for whole organs.
"Organs are made up of lots of different types of cells," Dr Bryant.
"They're different sizes and they have different shapes, behave differently, and need different cryoprotectants, so you can't cryopreserve them all in the same way."
She pointed out that if the technology had been perfected, we would already be using it to solve real-world problems like the organ donor shortage.
Many cryonics enthusiasts were inspired by Robert Ettinger, an American academic known as the "father of cryonics".
His 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality, he proposed that death might one day be reversible.
It is the same book that former marketing specialist Peter Tsolakides — now the founder of Southern Cryonics — read as a teenager.
Two years ago, 35 founding members invested between $50,000 and $70,000 each to establish the facility.
Today, Southern Cryonics has 32 active "subscribers" who pay an annual fee of $350, and have signed up for the suspension procedure costing about $170,000.
Members sign an agreement that details the terms and conditions of their cryonic suspension.
They are also encouraged to sign a religious objection to autopsy form, which requests that an autopsy is not carried out to "avoid destructive procedures and consequent delays" in the suspension process.
Southern Cryonics is equipped to hold up to 40 bodies.
"We have members ranging from about 15 years old up to about 95, and we range from doctors to bus drivers," Mr Tsolakides said.
"Most of the people want to live very long lives, not necessarily be immortal.
"They're also interested in seeing what the future is".
There are no specific laws relating to cryonics in Australia.
Legally, a cryogenically frozen body is considered the same as the remains of any other dead person, and Southern Cryonics is classified as a cemetery on its Greater Hume Council development application.
There are operational risks to be considered by those who wish to be frozen.
However, Mr Tsolakides said the facility was relatively protected.
He said the cryogenic chambers relied on top-ups of liquid nitrogen that arrived periodically by truck from multiple suppliers.
The chambers each hold a two-month supply of liquid nitrogen, and a maintenance person checks the levels a few times a week.
The suspension agreement, which clients must sign, specifies that in events such as deregistration, insolvency, or cryonic suspension or revival becoming illegal, Southern Cryonics may cease the suspension, and "dispose of the patient's body by burial, cremation or transfer of the body to a responsible person."
Health experts have previously raised ethical concerns about the cryonics sector, describing it as "Star Trek in play".
However, Mr Tsolakides said he hoped that, given enough time, science would meet him halfway.
"Let's say that it [cryonic revival] is possible but very unlikely — say it's 10 per cent possible," he said.
"You got 10 per cent possibility of living an extremely long life versus being buried underground or burned. Which one would you choose?"