The Frozen People

7 Pages 1701 Words

The Frozen People
Suzie Q, a twenty-five year old woman, is dying of AIDS. When she learned this, she heard about something called cryonic suspension. A cryonist at the hospital where she gets treatment told her how cryonics freezes people when they are pronounced dead. When the cure for AIDS is developed, she would then be revived and able to start a new life. Suzie Q decided to participate in cryonic suspension and spent her life savings to pay for the freezing process. Five years later, Suzie Q died. The cryonics team flew her to an Alcor Life Extension Foundation where she was frozen. Suzie Q’s family did not know about her plans and were extremely upset because they felt it was impossible to conduct a proper funeral without a body to bury.
Cryonics what a funny word yet the meaning of this funny word is extremely serious. In Newsday Sidney C. Schaer a news writer wrote this, “THE WORD ‘cryonics’- the practice of freezing a dead body in hopes of someday reviving it- didn’t enter the dictionary until 1967. But 200 years earlier, Ben Franklin was dreaming of a frozen ride to immortality” (Schaer). Cryonic suspension requires that the body's temperature be lowered to -196 degrees Celsius or the same as liquid nitrogen. Then the body or head is stored in a dewar, which is like a thermos, and put into cold storage. “This flask is continuously being filled with liquid nitrogen because the nitrogen is evaporating continuously to keep the temperature low” (Cryonic). The cryonic medical team will only reanimate the patients when the cure for what killed the patient is found. Although cryonics is a medical science break-though, it should be outlawed in the United States for several reasons. Cryonic suspension could cause over population and wasted money, cell damage and the patients could possibly be used as guinea pigs, and how will they adapt to the future?
Obviously, people are interested in cryonics because it will ...