Editing Cryonics (section)

==History==
{{See also|Cryopreservation#History|Embryo cryopreservation}}

Cryopreservation was applied to human cells beginning in 1954 with frozen sperm, which was thawed and used to inseminate three women.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fatherhood After Death Has Now Been Proved Possible|newspaper=Cedar Rapids Gazette|date=April 9, 1954}}</ref> The freezing of humans was first scientifically proposed by Michigan professor [[Robert Ettinger]] in ''The Prospect of Immortality'' (1962).<ref name=dilemma>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/18/the-cryonics-dilemma-will-deep-frozen-bodies-be-fit-for-new-life|title=The cryonics dilemma: will deep-frozen bodies be fit for new life?|website=[[The Guardian]]|last=Devlin|first=Hannah|date=November 18, 2016|access-date=September 22, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923052213/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/18/the-cryonics-dilemma-will-deep-frozen-bodies-be-fit-for-new-life|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1966, the first human body was frozen—though it had been embalmed for two months—by being placed in [[liquid nitrogen]] and stored at just above freezing. The middle-aged woman from Los Angeles, whose name is unknown, was soon thawed and buried by relatives.<ref name=alcor>{{cite web|url=https://alcor.org/Library/html/suspensionfailures.html|title=Suspension Failures – Lessons from the Early Days|last=Perry|first=R. Michael|website=ALCOR: Life Extension Foundation|date=October 2014|access-date=August 29, 2018|archive-date=April 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416155826/https://alcor.org/Library/html/suspensionfailures.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The first body to be cryopreserved and then frozen in hope of future revival was that of [[James Bedford]]. [[Alcor Life Extension Foundation|Alcor]]'s [[Mike Darwin]] says Bedford's body was cryopreserved around two hours after his death by cardiorespiratory arrest (secondary to metastasized kidney cancer) on January 12, 1967.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dear Dr. Bedford (and those who will care for you after I do) |publisher=Cryonics |date=July 1991 |url=http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/BedfordLetter.htm |first1=Mike |last1=Darwin |access-date=2009-08-23 |archive-date=2020-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316200916/https://www.alcor.org/Library/html/BedfordLetter.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Bedford's corpse is the only one frozen before 1974 still preserved today.<ref name=alcor/> In 1976, Ettinger founded the [[Cryonics Institute]]; his corpse was cryopreserved in 2011.<ref name=dilemma/> In 1981, Robert Nelson, "a former TV repairman with no scientific background" who led the Cryonics Society of California, was sued for allowing nine bodies to thaw and decompose in the 1970s; in his defense, he claimed that the Cryonics Society had run out of money.<ref name=alcor/> This lowered the reputation of cryonics in the U.S.<ref name=ft>{{cite news|title=Inside the weird world of cryonics|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d634e198-a435-11e5-873f-68411a84f346.html|access-date=21 February 2016|work=[[Financial Times]]|date=18 December 2015|archive-date=8 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908025414/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d634e198-a435-11e5-873f-68411a84f346.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, a [[Y-Combinator]] startup called Nectome was recognized for developing a method of preserving brains with chemicals rather than by freezing. The method is fatal, performed as euthanasia under general anesthesia, but the hope is that future technology will allow the brain to be physically scanned into a computer simulation, neuron by neuron.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610456/a-startup-is-pitching-a-mind-uploading-service-that-is-100-percent-fatal/ |title=A startup is pitching a mind-uploading service that is "100 percent fatal" |date=13 March 2018 |magazine=MIT Technology Review |first1=Antonio |last1=Regalado |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123132955/https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/03/13/144721/a-startup-is-pitching-a-mind-uploading-service-that-is-100-percent-fatal/ |url-status=live}}</ref>