Sergiyev Posad, Russia - When Alexei
Voronenkov's 70-year-old mother passed away, he paid to have her
brain frozen and stored in the hope breakthroughs in science
will one day be able to bring her back to life.
It is one of 71 brains and human cadavers - which Russian
company KrioRus calls its "patients" - floating in liquid
nitrogen in one of several metres-tall vats in a corrugated
metal shed outside Moscow.
They are stored at -196 degrees Celsius (-320.8°F) with the
aim of protecting them against deterioration, although there is
currently no evidence science will be able to revive the dead.
"I did this because we were very close and I think it is the
only chance for us to meet in the future," said Voronenkov who
intends to undergo the procedure, known as cryonics, when he
dies.
The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences's Pseudoscience
Commission, Evgeny Alexandrov, described cryonics as "an
exclusively commercial undertaking that does not have any
scientific basis", in comments to the Izvestia newspaper.
It is "a fantasy speculating on people's hopes of
resurrection from the dead and dreams of eternal life", the
newspaper quoted him as saying.
Valeriya Udalova, KrioRus's director who got her dog frozen
when it died in 2008, said it is likely that humankind will
develop the technology to revive dead people in the future, but
that there is no guarantee of such technology.
KrioRus says hundreds of potential clients from nearly 20
countries have signed up for its after-death service.
It costs $36,000 for a whole body and $15,000 for the brain
alone for Russians, who earn average monthly salaries of $760,
according to official statistics. Prices are slightly higher for
non-Russians.
The company says it is the only one in Russia and the
surrounding region. Set up in 2005, it has at least two
competitors in the United States, where the practice dates back
further.
Voronenkov said he set his hopes on science. "I hope one day
it reaches a level when we can produce artificial bodies and
organs to create an artificial body where my mother's brain can
be integrated."
KrioRus' director Udalova argues that those paying to have
dying relatives' remains preserved are showing how much they
love them.
"They try to bring hope," she said. "What can we do for our
dying relatives or the ones that we love? A nice burial, a photo
album," she said. "They go further, proving their love even
more."