Which Is The Best Cryonics Company For You?
If you are considering cryopreservation, you already know that there are different providers out there. Their services differ in many aspects: neuro or whole-body preservation, prices, standby service, storage location and membership fee. In this article, we analyze three main biostasis aka cryonics providers: Tomorrow Biostasis, Cryonics Institute and Alcor. Find out all pros and cons and make an informed decision on which provider would be the best for you!
Tomorrow Biostasis
Tomorrow Biostasis is the newest biostasis provider in the market — more specifically in Europe. Founded in 2019 in Berlin by Dr. Emil Kendziorra and Fernando Azevedo Pinheiro, it’s planning to deeply revolutionize the biostasis world. Starting with its own vocabulary. In fact, it promotes the term “biostasis”, to describe its service. Biostasis is a natural ability that several organisms have to tolerate environmental changes without having to actively react to them. Cryopreservation is the result of putting people in biostasis at cryogenic temperatures. The word “cryonics’’, misused by the media, has acquired some negative connotations. It’s time to let this word go. And to remind people what an exciting future medical technology we are talking about.
In its first year, Tomorrow Biostasis has reached about 130 members — achieving the fastest growth this field has ever seen. The sign up process is 100% online and super fast. This startup focuses on a young audience, with an average members’ age 36. Since its members are mostly young and healthy, none of them has been cryopreserved yet. Even so, Tomorrow Biostasis is more than ready!
How? Tomorrow regularly performs preservations as a service or supports cases of non-members. It also has a trained and fully-equipped standby team to achieve the highest quality cryopreservation possible (based in Berlin) which undergoes constant re-training and certification. A second standby team is available in Amsterdam, through a partner. Both standby teams are ready to be dispatched 24/7. A third one will be soon available in Switzerland. Additionally, the European Biostasis Foundation, Tomorrow’s partner organization, will soon inaugurate a brand-new research facility. This facility will both take care of the long term storage and advance the biostasis research.
Tomorrow Biostasis offers whole-body plans for 200.000€ (or 300.000€ if you select a Platinum plan). The plans can be paid monthly through term life insurance, whole life insurance or through alternative funding methods. After signing up, Tomorrow’s members won’t have to worry about anything. In fact, the price covers all necessary steps:
- Transportation of the standby team to the patient’s location
- Field cryoprotectant (FCP) procedure
- Transportation of the patient to EBF’s long term storage facility
- Vitrification and completement of the procedure
- Long term indefinite storage
- Future revival, depending, of course, on the advance of medical technology
The monthly membership fee is 25€. Find out more here.
Cryonics Institute
The Cryonics Institute (CI) was founded on April 4, 1976 by none other than Robert Ettinger, the “father of cryonics’’. Ettinger was cryopreserved in 2011 and has since then been stored in CI’s facility. Based in Michigan, USA, the Cryonics Institute is a non-profit membership organization made up of people seeking to pursue cryonics’ “Prospect of Immortality”.
According to their statistics, CI:
- Has performed the biggest amount of human whole-body suspensions: 212
- Has performed the biggest amount of pet suspensions: 204
- Has the highest number of members (still alive): 1814
- Provides one of the most affordable whole-body suspension worldwide: from $28,000
All these elements make the Cryonics Institute a valuable choice, especially for people located in Michigan or in the vicinity. In fact, transportation costs and auxiliary local help are not included in the total price. Nevertheless, CI made sure that members located elsewhere in the world will still be reached fast, thanks to networks of local mortuary assistance.
The Cryonics Institute doesn’t have its own standby team but relies on a third party organization e.g. Suspended Animation, Inc. Having a centralized remote standby would raise the costs because of its training and 24/7 readiness. And, as explained on the website, it’s not always the most suitable option. “Instead, we encourage members to plan and set up their own decentralized local resources. We think that the ultimate responsibility for standby relies to a certain degree with the individual member, since each member can assess his or her own individual circumstances.”
CI offers a yearly or lifetime membership. Here the prices in detail.
Alcor Life Extension Foundation
Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the first biostasis company that opened. Founded in 1972, it will soon celebrate its 50-year anniversary. The name “Alcor” comes from a star system that “had just the right brightness so it was used as a test for clear vision”.
Alcor has 184 cryopreserved patients and 1379 members. It’s first facility was based in Riverside, California. In 1994 the facility was moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. This last area is more secure from natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards.
What does Alcor offer? Alcor is the only provider between these three that offers both neuropreservation and whole-body preservation. So, if you already decided for neuropreservation, Alcor is probably the best choice for you. Neuropreservation requires a minimum of $80,000, while whole-body preservation starts from $200,000. In both cases, members are suggested to use life insurance, but can also choose alternative funding methods.
Alcor’s standby service is a hybridus between Tomorrow Biostasis and CI. In fact, it does provide an internal standby team for people that are located close to the facility or that relocate to the area before legal death. If the patient is instead further away, Alcor collaborates with a third-party service. This will take care of Standby, Stabilization and Transportation (SST).
Alcor has a monthly membership fee of $55. There is a discount for additional family members: $33/mo for each adult and $8/mo for children.
Which one is better for you?
When selecting a provider, it is very important that you first understand your specific case and preferences.
- How accessible is the area you live, in case of sudden death?
- Would you be willing to relocate in case of terminal illness?
- Where do you want to be stored — and probably revived?
- How much are you willing or capable of paying?
- Do you want to organize initial standby and transportation yourself or do you want someone else to plan it for you?
The chart above can help you compare some important information. We recommend reading about each provider and deciding yourself which one fits your needs the most. No provider is definitely superior. Some providers may be better than others in specific cases. In other cases, more than one provider could be a good choice.
Select providers covering other regions
To make sure you have all the information you need, keep in mind that there are a few more providers you can choose between.
Yinfeng
The Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute was established in 2015. Its purpose is to “research in cryogenic medical fields and life sciences such as cryopreservation, resuscitation and functions maintenance in tissues, organs and humans”. We don’t have any exact information about the type of service they offer or the exact cost.
Southern Cryonics
Southern Cryonics is a brand-new storage facility located close to Sidney, Australia. It doesn’t have its own standby team. Instead, it collaborates with an Australian non-profit company called CryoPath, that offers Standby, Stabilization and Transportation (SST) for an additional cost. The facility will be opened soon and will store up to 40 patients. The facility will very likely be expanded in the next decades.
Southern Cryonics offers whole-body suspension. The cost is $150,000 (that can be paid through life insurance or alternative funding method) plus a yearly subscription fee of about $350.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article gave you a good basic understanding of the providers and their offer. The next step is to contact the ones that could work better for your specific case.
One of the most important things to consider, when choosing a provider, is the speed response. The earlier the standby team can reach you and start the procedure, the better. Therefore, if you are based in the US or Canada, you should probably consider Alcor and CI first. If you are closer to China, then Yinfeng is a good option.
