Having your head cryogenically frozen for potential future resuscitation is a service which could be offered to the public at an ‘affordable’ price within 10 years, a stem cell bank has claimed.
Cryogenic head freezing is thought to be a way of preserving enough of someone’s personality, intellect and memories to be able to bring them back to life at a point in the future when technology is more advanced.
Stem cell storage company StemProtect.co.uk says it is still mainly a practice for the rich with the high costs involved, but that it could become widely available within five to 10 years.
The service would be offered at a cost of £5,000 for 250 years, which founder Mark Hall points out is “cheaper than some funerals”.
“We’re accustomed to making jokes about freezing heads when we die, and of course everyone knows Walt Disney did it – often that’s their only point of reference,” Hall said.
“But soon we could see this practice becoming commonplace because advances in technology have made it much more affordable.
“And of course, while we’re not at the point yet where we can bring someone back to life from this procedure, we believe it’s just around the corner.”
Other ways of preserving vital tissue, such as stem cell banking, are now much more commonplace than ever before, Stem Protect says.
Unlike freezing a head, which is done to bring a dead individual back to life, the work StemProtect.co.uk currently do is aimed at preserving information about the body which can be used for medical purposes while the person is still alive.