Cryonics Centre planned for southern NSW – Yahoo New Zealand News

Plans for Australias first cryonic storage facility have been set for southern New South Wales.

The Cryonics Centre would freeze bodies in the hope they will be revived years, decades or even centuries later.

A site has been scouted at Holbrook and is now waiting council approval.

Matt Fisher from Stasis Systems said freezing is a detailed process.

"We have cryoprotectants that essentially prevent the formation of ice crystals within the body during the freezing process."

If it goes ahead, the Cryonics Centre will be the first in the Southern Hemisphere.

Gavin Smith is one of many prospective customers already warming to the idea.

"The bits that make me me are here and they don't die immediately so if there's a way to hit pause, I'd love to do that, he told 7 News.

The process would cost around $80,000, possibly from your life insurance, to freeze and preserve your dead body.

But the method does have strong skeptics.

Bosch Professor of Histology Chris Murphy told 7 News cryonic preservation is pointless.

"When we use cryoprotectants we use them to preserve tissue for looking at in the microscope, not for bringing it back to life... the structure is still dead, he said.

At this point in time, scientists agree that cryogenics is not possible.

Supporters of the procedure, however, still have high hopes, holding faith in future technologies that will fill the gaps in our knowledge.

Mr Fisher said he does not doubt it will be a possibility one day.

"When you're talking about what happens in a thousand years or ten thousand yearsit's really difficult to put upper limits on what's possible, he said.

He hopes the centre will open next year.

News break March 3

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Cryonics Centre planned for southern NSW - Yahoo New Zealand News