Is reincarnation more than a dream? Cryopreservation of a whole body

World-renowned cryonics expert Aaron Drake has undertaken the first case of cryopreservation of a whole body in Jinan, China.

Drake explains that cryonics is the low-temperature preservation of people who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that resuscitation and restoration to full health may be possible in the future, e.g. in cancer treatment.

The applicant for cryopreservation is a 49-year old female lung cancer patient by the name of Jen, and the procedures were undertaken by a Shandong scientific institute in collaboration with the local university hospital, taking almost 60 hours to complete. Her husband Gui expressed the wish that she might be resuscitated and restored to health some day.

Within two minutes of Jen being declared legally dead, the medical team started injecting cyroprotectants to prevent ice formation during cryopreservation. They have also injected anti-oxidant drugs. The body was then transferred by ambulance to the scientific research institute for low-temperature preservation. After about close to 60 hours, the body temperature was lowered to -190C.

Drake has undertaken up to more than 70 cases of cryonics procedures in the last 7 years. In May, 2015, he and his team were responsible for the cryopreservation of the brain of a Chongqing writer – the first such case in China.

Gui explained that he and his wife had reached an agreement on cryonics before she passed away. Jen had made enormous contributions to the community, and would like to offer her body for scientific research. Gui is hopeful that with rapid advances in medicine, the experts will, one day, develop effective cure for lung cancer and other tumors.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia's mountain rescuers on Thursday found the body of a Hungarian hiker who got lost in a blizzard in the Alps last week.

A Facebook post said that a team located the man in a gorge, who was showing no signs of life, and that the transport of the body is underway.

Rescuers descended into the gorge using ropes after a Slovenian police helicopter first flew them near the site.

“We located the hiker 250 m lower from the spot of the accident, more than two meters under the snow,” the rescue service said.

Two hikers from Hungary got lost on Sunday as the weather turned bad while they were at an altitude of some 1,700 meters in the Alps, north of the capital Ljubljana.

Slovenian rescuers for days were unable to fly a helicopter in the area because of strong winds.

The female Hungarian hiker was found and transferred to safety on Monday but rescuers had to pull back without locating the man who had a broken leg.

The snowstorm also left tens of thousands without electricity throughout the Balkans, closing down schools and snarling traffic in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.

Slovenia is known for mountaineering and hiking in the Alps. Authorities have constantly appealed to visitors from abroad to prepare and check weather conditions before setting off into the mountains.

An aerial view of traffic and parked cars during heavy snowfall in Alipasino Polje neighborhood of Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of parked trolley buses during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of Bascarsija, the old part of Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

An aerial view of parked trolley buses during heavy snowfall in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)