After Life

Can deep frozen humans be brought back to life? Paris Hilton reportedly intends to resurrect herself and her pets, towards which end she is believed to have bought stocks in the Cryonics Institute in Michigan; rapper Kanye West wishes to have his brain and body frozen so that he can be resurrected in the future to ensure that his “creative genius is preserved”; ditto singer Britney Spears. Describing it as an interesting theory, Professor Gyaneshwer Chaubey of the Cytogenetics Laboratory at the Banaras Hindu University says currently available technology can bring some organs back to working condition after freezing, but not a complete human body. Known for his extraordinary work in the fields of Biological Anthropology, Medical Genetics and Forensics, Prof Chaubey says the Cryonics concept is founded on several fundamental principles, the key being the capacity to halt chemical reactions in the body for extended periods at low temperatures and the reduction of ice formation through the use of vitrifying mixtures. “None of these were done in the hope that the dead would come alive again, but there is evidence that Mummies were preserved with utensils, food and water, signalling hope that these items would be useful in the future.” He notes that while it isn’t proven at the moment that deep freezing can keep the body in readiness for renewed life, there are deadly viruses which have been deep frozen, buried in the permafrost in the Himalayan ranges for millions of years.