Biostasis: when today's medicine runs out
Odainn is about staying alive with what works today — knowing your real risks, the checks that catch disease early, the changes that give years back. But medicine has limits. For some people, when it can do no more, biostasis — also called cryonics — is a last hope: being preserved at a very low temperature in the hope that future medicine can repair and revive them. More than a thousand people in Europe have signed up with one provider alone. Here is what it is, honestly.
What is possible today — and what isn't
No one has yet been revived from biostasis, and no one can say whether or when it will be possible — it may take decades or centuries, or never happen. The providers say so themselves: it is a bet on future science, not a treatment. What has changed is the science of preserving living tissue:
- Rat kidneys have been vitrified, stored, rewarmed and transplanted — and kept the animals alive (Han et al., Nature Communications, 2023).
- Tiny worms (C. elegans) kept a learned memory after being vitrified and revived (Vita-More et al., Rejuvenation Research, 2015).
- Whole mammal brains have been preserved with their fine structure intact for long-term storage — with a chemical fixative, so not reversible (McIntyre & Fahy, Cryobiology, 2015).
How it works
- 01Standby
A team waits nearby when death is expected, so the procedure can start within minutes of legal death.
- 02Stabilisation
The body is cooled with ice water, circulation is supported, and medication protects the brain.
- 03Cryoprotection
Blood is replaced with a cryoprotectant solution that prevents ice from forming inside tissue.
- 04Vitrification
Slow cooling to about −120 °C turns the body into a glass-like state instead of ice.
- 05Long-term storage
Patients are kept at −196 °C in liquid nitrogen, for as long as it takes.
Speed matters more than anything: every hour between death and cryoprotection affects how well the brain is preserved. That is why preparing early matters.
What it costs, and how people pay
| Provider | While you're alive | At the time of death |
|---|---|---|
| Tomorrow.BioBerlin; storage in Switzerland | Membership €50 a month, €500 a year or €15,000 once | €200,000 whole-body or €75,000 brain-only for members |
| AlcorArizona, USA | Yearly membership dues | From $200,000 whole-body or $80,000 neuro (minimum funding) |
| Cryonics InstituteMichigan, USA | Lifetime membership $1,250 once | $28,000, plus standby and transport ($500 to $100,000) |
Almost no one pays from savings: most members take out term-life insurance that names the provider as the beneficiary, so the cost is a monthly premium. Prices from each provider's own pages, October 2026 — check them before you decide. Tomorrow.Bio covers mainland Europe, the UK and Ireland, and Florida, California and New York State.
How to prepare
- Choose a provider and become a member — membership keeps costs lower and lets the provider plan for you.
- Arrange funding: most people use term-life insurance that names the provider as the beneficiary.
- Sign the documents: the biostasis contract, an advance directive and a will that reflect your wishes.
- Tell your family and your doctors, and give them the provider's emergency number.
- Decide about organ donation: it can conflict with biostasis — ask your provider before you register.
- Keep the emergency number with you, and review your plan when your health changes.
For a parent or partner: it has to be their wish. If it is, talk to a provider early — arrangements made at the last minute cost more and usually preserve less well.
In an emergency
Call the provider as early as you possibly can — at the diagnosis of a terminal illness, a sudden worsening, or when doctors become concerned — not when death is near. If a life is in danger right now, call emergency services first. Urgent cases only:
- Tomorrow.Bio: Europe +49 30 6293 8537, United States +1 646 693 7254 (their instructions)
- Alcor: from the US +1 800 367 2228, from abroad +1 480 922 9013 (their instructions)
- Cryonics Institute: +1 586 791 5961 (their instructions)
Last-minute cases for non-members are possible with some providers, for a fee. If you have an Odainn account, you can keep your plan — or a parent's — with the emergency number at hand: plan ahead.
Questions
- Is it legal where I live?
- Rules on what can happen to a body after death differ by country. Providers handle the paperwork and transport, and explain what applies where you live — ask them before you sign up.
- Should I stop looking after my health, then?
- The opposite. Biostasis is a last resort when nothing else works; every year you stay healthy is a year of better medicine. Start with what is most likely to threaten you, and what to do about it.
- What does Odainn get from this?
- Nothing: we don't earn a commission from any provider. If that ever changes, we'll say so on this page. We never share your data with a provider — you contact them yourself.
Sources: Tomorrow.Bio — pricing, procedure & coverage, emergency, informed consent (tomorrow.bio); Alcor — required costs and cryopreservation fund minimums (Schedule A, 2025), emergency numbers (alcor.org/contact); Cryonics Institute — membership and emergency number (cryonics.org); Han Z et al., Nature Communications 2023;14:3407; Vita-More N, Barranco D, Rejuvenation Research 2015;18(5):458–63; McIntyre RL, Fahy GM, Cryobiology 2015;71(3):448–58. Checked 1 October 2026. Educational, not medical, legal or financial advice.