How much are you willing to spend to cheat a little more of the Grim Reaper? More precisely, how much would you spend to cheat death using technology that has not yet been invented?
Freezing, or cryopreservation, is the process of freezing your body or head in the hope that one day you will be resurrected.
But if we can't find a way to bring the freezer back to life, you might just spend a lot of money buried in the freezer, not underground.
Of course, cryonics is also much more complicated than simply swapping a coffin for a refrigerator, although it's been around a little longer than you might think – James Bedford, the first person to receive cryopreservation, was "frozen" in 1967. The idea is that in the future, scientists will be able to extract DNA from your frozen brain or body to create a younger version of yourself if you want, or simply resurrect your original body and fix anything that needs to be repaired.
To cryofreeze, you need to be declared legally dead, and then a team will vitrify your body. This means that your body freezes so quickly that the cells don't have time to make ice crystals.
The chemicals used for vitrification are unique and therefore highly expensive. People who are cryopreserved also need to be suspended in a specific tank, where the temperature can be as low as -196 degrees Celsius, and stored until people can "thaw" and resurrect.
So, how much does it all cost?
The answer is: a lot – even if you just want to protect your brain.
As of now, the body and brain can only be stored in facilities within the United States and Russia - where the main players of cryogenic games are located. There is also a wide variation, ranging from £20,000 to £200,000.
One player in this game is the Alcor Life Extension Club, which is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The company told ** that there are currently 1,425 cryopreservation members, of whom more than half (55%) are registered for whole-body preservation. The other 45% is used for neural cryopreservation – freezing only the brain.
Alcor's application fee is $300, and clients pay an age-based fee annually until you "pass away" up to your age x $15. Then, to perform whole-body cryopreservation, you need to pay $220,000, or $80,000 for neural cryopreservation. If you are outside the U.S. or Canada, you will pay an additional $10,000 for transportation.
The good news is that this isn't your only option, and there are cheaper companies out there.
The cryopreservation process is also provided by the Russian company Kriorus, which told ** that 95 people have been saved, of which 43 have opted for whole-body cryopreservation and 52 have received neurological services.
The whole body is preserved at 3,800,000 Russian rubles, or about £33,500, and the brain is preserved at 1,800,000 (£15,800). In addition, there will be an additional fee of £4,000 to £8,000 for those living outside of Russia.
These are the only payments you need to pay, and although some clients will leave their estate to the company, this is entirely voluntary, Kriorus told **.
Another big player is the Cryopreservation Institute (CI), which has a minimum fee of $28,000 (£22,500) for cryopreservation, which is a one-time fee that expires on death.
The facility only provides full-body protection, which they say is "intentional cost savings."
To become a lifetime CI member, you can pay a one-time membership fee of $1,250 (£1,000) and a higher cryopreservation fee later ($35,000 to £28,000).
Alternatively, one can join with an initiation fee of US$75 (£60) and pay an annual fee of US$120 (£100) and quarterly instalments of US$35 (£28).
However, people will have to pay for transportation, which are not counted in the CI and are not included in the above figures.
**What should I do next?
Well, it's a bit like gambling, because the technology to resurrect tissues hasn't been developed yet, but clones made from DNA are a few steps closer to us.
Still, whichever way you choose, it's a lot of money. When you're alive for the first time, you're sure to have a great holiday....