Most people accept death as the inevitable end of earthly life. Transhumanists, however, have turned it into an engineering challenge, complete with price lists for cryonics and mind digitisation.<\/p>\n
On \u201cPodcast Society\u201d, Valeria Pride, CEO of KrioRus, explains how Russia\u2019s immortality business is organised. We discuss the pragmatic side of preserving bodies in liquid nitrogen and glance at the future of autonomous AI avatars of the dead.<\/p>\n
ForkLog (FL): For most people, death is an immutable constant, yet transhumanists see it as an engineering problem that can be solved. How did that shift happen for you personally?<\/strong><\/p>\n Valeria Pride (V. P.):<\/strong> It didn\u2019t happen at all; I was born this way. At about 15 I filled an entire notebook titled \u201cEssays on immortality\u201d. You could say I am a natural, genetic immortalist.<\/p>\n FL: How would you explain the concept of transhumanism simply to a layperson?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Humanity is constantly developing. We have reached a stage where we can directly influence our bodies and brains with artificial organs and nootropics. Thanks to medicine, people already live much longer than in past centuries.<\/p>\n Transhumanism is a worldview that holds that the human being in its original form is far from the pinnacle of nature. The very word implies a transition from the current state to a radically improved one. With science, we can\u2014and should\u2014become smarter, healthier and attain immortality.<\/p>\n FL: Which present-day technology is closest to meaningfully extending human life in the coming decades?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> I\u2019ll start with a paean to modern medicine, which already has enormous capabilities. For example, this year Russians with cancer began receiving individually designed genetic cancer vaccines under compulsory health insurance. There are also experimental gene modifications to combat ageing.<\/p>\n While we cannot yet radically \u201cupgrade\u201d the brain, it makes sense to use nootropics wisely to support its function. There is a genuine revolution in psychopharmacology under way, with effective drugs for neurodegenerative diseases emerging.<\/p>\n As a result, we will soon begin to live to 120 as a matter of course. By then, something new will have arrived\u2014say, nanorobots able to repair the body from within at the cellular level.<\/p>\n FL: The public\u2019s chief fear is that immortality will be available only to billionaires. How do transhumanists see the economics of radical life extension?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Over time all technologies become cheaper. Penicillin was once the most expensive drug in the world; today it costs pennies. Of course, at an early stage advanced gene modifications will be costly and available only to the middle class and above.<\/p>\n But there is already a \u201clite transhumanism\u201d: biohacking. It demands intelligence, time and the willingness to study your test results more than it does vast sums of money.<\/p>\n Soon you won\u2019t even need to delve deeply into medical indicators. You will upload your data to an artificial intelligence, set a budget and the neural network will instantly produce a ready-made life-extension plan.<\/p>\n FL: KrioRus is nearly 20 years old. How did the cryonics industry in Russia start?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> In the early 2000s a group of enthusiasts launched regular seminars on life extension. We invited scientists and discussed genetic engineering, nanotechnology and artificial organs. Later it turned out that our director of science, Igor Artyukhov, had been storing the brain of the first Russian cryopatient since 2003.<\/p>\n In 2006, at one of the seminars, we realised we wanted to freeze ourselves in the future, too. American services were too expensive and logistically complex. So eight like-minded people found the first \u0434\u044c\u044e\u0430\u0440<\/span>, rented a small space and registered our own company.<\/p>\n FL: How many patients do you have at this point? I take it you cryopreserve not only people but animals as well?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> We currently have 106 people; up-to-date statistics are always available on our website<\/a>. With animals the tally runs to dozens; in the past two weeks alone we cryonised eight pets. It\u2019s important to understand these are already frozen patients\u2014the number of contracts for the future is much higher.<\/p>\n FL: How much does the cryonics procedure cost?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Whole-body preservation costs around 3.8 million rubles, plus transport. Preserving only the brain costs 1.8 million rubles. We work globally\u2014patients are brought to us from the US, China, Japan and Australia\u2014so the final sum can vary with logistics.<\/p>\n FL: Is it a one-off payment, after which the body is stored indefinitely with no further fees?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> The contract covers both storage and future revival. The logic of cryonics is to bring a person back to life, not to stage a high-tech funeral.<\/p>\n Clearly, the initial fee won\u2019t cover revival itself\u2014it will be expensive. So we form an additional trust fund from bequeathed assets, businesses and property to finance patients\u2019 resurrection.<\/p>\n FL: What specific paperwork should be prepared during one\u2019s lifetime?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> The simplest and most reliable option is to sign the contract and pay for it. We need a clear written or video expression of your will. Some clients also notarise it\u2014and that set is quite sufficient for us to proceed.<\/p>\n FL: To become your client, must a person be legally dead, or can a living person be frozen under the law?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Current technologies do not allow us to freeze and immediately thaw a whole organism without consequences. The person would simply die in the process, which the law would classify as euthanasia, banned in Russia. Therefore we begin strictly after death is pronounced.<\/p>\n FL: A large share of people opt to cryopreserve only the brain rather than the whole body. Is that about saving money, or is it more promising scientifically?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> There\u2019s no scientific difference; the choice is purely about finances and psychology. For many it\u2019s hard to part with a loved one\u2019s body, so they feel more comfortable knowing it is preserved in full. Some even order an extra service: they put on a special suit and view the frozen body through glass.<\/p>\n But for the future, preserving only the brain is in no way inferior. Scientists are already printing bones and growing new organs. In time creating a new body will be routine, but you cannot reassemble a unique brain from scratch.<\/p>\n FL: Step by step, how does the procedure unfold? A person dies\u2014what happens next?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> The procedure takes about two weeks. As soon as we gain access to the body, emergency cooling with ice and special solutions begins, down to a temperature close to zero.<\/p>\n In parallel, surgeons access the circulatory system. The blood is completely washed out and gradually replaced with three cryoprotectant solutions\u2014this takes four to 14 hours.<\/p>\n Then comes deep freezing, which lasts ten days. The temperature is smoothly lowered to \u2013196\u00b0C using vitrification to avoid cellular damage.<\/p>\n FL: Ice crystals are dangerous because they tear the brain. How do you address that?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Ordinary ice does expand and rupture cell membranes. But our advanced cryoprotectant turns not into icy crystals at \u201332\u00b0C, but into a solid gel.<\/p>\n This process is called vitrification. It allows tissues to be frozen with minimal harm. If microdamage does occur, medical nanorobots will repair it in future.<\/p>\n FL: What do the storage capsules look like? Anything like the film \u201cPassengers\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Bodies are stored in Dewars\u2014giant three-metre composite thermoses. A vacuum between their double walls perfectly maintains the cold. Science fiction loves elegant glass windows, but in reality glass would freeze through instantly from thermal stress.<\/p>\n To keep cryonics accessible, patients are stored together\u2014up to ten people in one cylinder, vertically and head down. Even if the level of liquid nitrogen were suddenly to drop, the brain would stay cold the longest. We also make individual capsules, but they cost several times more.<\/p>\n FL: In legal terms, is a cryopatient considered a dead person or the subject of a scientific experiment?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Legally they are considered deceased; all patients have standard death certificates. But we present this as a large-scale longitudinal scientific experiment in freezing, storage and future revival.<\/p>\n FL: Do Dewars depend on electricity? How often do they need topping up with liquid nitrogen?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> Dewars are entirely autonomous from power sockets; electricity is needed only to light the building. Nitrogen must be added periodically as it evaporates. For reliability we have contracts with several suppliers, plus our own unit capable of generating nitrogen autonomously.<\/p>\n FL: What happens to patients if the company goes bankrupt in the coming decades?<\/strong><\/p>\n V. P.:<\/strong> We are building a special fund of real estate, shares and cryptocurrency to insure the company and finance future technologies. But our main guarantee of stability is our clients themselves. If a critical situation arose, we would rally a community of thousands of supporters\u2014and they would not let the project close.<\/p>\nCryonics in Russia<\/strong><\/h2>\n