When you die, there are a lot of things you can do with your dead body--embalm it, cremate it, donate it to science (the list goes on…), but some people will choose to have their dead bodies, or body parts, frozen until the technology of the future has (hopefully) advanced enough to bring them back to life. This week on Reactions, we break down the chemistry of cryogenic freezing and if it’s realistic to think we could ever reanimate a frozen corpse.

Subscribe! http://bit.ly/ACSReactions
Facebook!   / acsreactions  
Twitter!   / acsreactions  
Instagram!   / acsreactions  


You might also like:
Why Don’t Antarctic Fish Freeze to Death?
   • Why Don’t Antarctic Fish Freeze to De...  

How to Survive the Snow and Ice
   • How to Survive the Snow and Ice  

The Cold Truth About Fat
   • The Cold Truth About Fat  

How Does Salt Melt Ice?
   • How Does Salt Melt Ice?  


Credits:

Producer: Elaine Seward

Writer: Samantha Jones, Ph.D.

Scientific Consultants: Leila Duman, Ph.D. Michelle Boucher, Ph.D., Joe Schwarcz, Ph.D., Michael Swain, Ph.D., David H. Gorski, M.D./Ph.D., João Pedro de Magalhaes, Ph.D., David Sherwood, Ph.D.

Executive Producer: George Zaidan
Executive Producer: Hilary Hudson

Music:
Sonoton Vanguard - Crawling Speed
Sonton Vanguard - Components A
AXS - Dark Alley
Sonton Vanguard - Let's Think Big
William Tell Overture

Sources:
General cryopreservation principles
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

Corpse cryopreservation and forensics
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3...

The church of cryopreservation
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

The false science of cryonics
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/54...

The case for cryonics
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

Euthanasia and cryothanasia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

Cryopreservation and its clinical applications https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Cryopreservation: An emerging paradigm change
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Fish antifreeze protein and the freezing and recrystallization of ice.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6...

Antifreeze and ice nucleator proteins in terrestrial arthropods.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

Cryoprotectant Toxicity: Facts, Issues, and Questions
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Scientific justification for cryonics
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

Cryopreserving mammalian cells
https://assets.thermofisher.com/TFS-A...

Persistence of Long-Term Memory in Vitrified and Revived Caenorhabditis elegans
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

An Interneuronal Chemoreceptor Required for Olfactory Imprinting in C. elegans
https://science.sciencemag.org/conten...

Maintenance of C. elegans
http://www.wormbook.org/chapters/www_...

Expression of Ice-Binding Proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans Improves the Survival Rate upon Cold Shock and during Freezing
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...


Ever wonder why dogs sniff each others' butts? Or how Adderall works? Or whether it's OK to pee in the pool? We've got you covered: Reactions a web series about the chemistry that surrounds you every day.

Produced by the American Chemical Society. Join the American Chemical Society! http://bit.ly/Join_acsmembership

Freezing frogs
https://www.livescience.com/32175-can...