In a move that blurs the lines between science fiction and reality, Berlin-based startup Tomorrow Bio is offering individuals the chance to extend their existence through cryogenic preservation.
As Europe’s first company to provide this service, Tomorrow Bio preserves deceased individuals by freezing them in liquid nitrogen, with the hope that future scientific advancements will enable their revival.
The company offers whole-body preservation for €200,000 and brain-only preservation for €75,000. To date, six individuals and five pets have undergone the procedure, and over 650 people have enrolled through life insurance contracts. Co-founder Fernando Azevedo Pinheiro, who has also signed up for cryopreservation, explains that motivations vary: some fear death, others are curious about future technological developments, and many simply wish to prolong their lives to experience more of what the world has to offer.
The process requires immediate action upon legal death to prevent cellular decomposition. Tomorrow Bio’s specialized teams, located in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Zurich, utilize modified ambulances equipped as mobile surgery units to initiate cooling and replace bodily fluids with a cryoprotectant solution, preventing ice crystal formation during the freezing process.
The preserved bodies are then transported to a storage facility in Rafz, Switzerland, managed by the European Biostasis Foundation, where they are stored in vacuum-insulated steel containers filled with liquid nitrogen.
While the concept of cryopreservation has been popularized by Hollywood films like “Demolition Man,” it remains speculative, with no guarantee of future revival. Nevertheless, Tomorrow Bio plans to expand its services to the United States by 2025, and potentially to Latin America and Asia thereafter, signaling a growing interest in the possibilities of life beyond death.
