Developing advanced methods to measure and validate the effectiveness of cryopreservation protocols, ensuring optimal outcomes across different tissue types and preservation conditions.
Purpose‑built R&D for long‑term preservation. We design and test specialized equipment, create patented systems, and continually refine protocols to improve outcomes and protect our patients.
At the heart of Alcor’s scientific advancement lies our dedicated in-house Research & Development department – a team of full-time professionals advancing the science of cryopreservation. This multidisciplinary team tackles challenges that exist nowhere else in science, pioneering solutions at the intersection of biology, engineering, and materials science.
Our in-house team designs and manufactures purpose-built equipment, develops patented preservation systems, and refines protocols. We combine science, systems engineering, and real-world operations to raise preservation quality while prioritizing safety, reliability, and long-term patient stewardship.
Developing advanced methods to measure and validate the effectiveness of cryopreservation protocols, ensuring optimal outcomes across different tissue types and preservation conditions.
Creating next-generation preservation systems that improve cooling rates, enhance perfusion efficiency, and provide better monitoring capabilities during critical preservation phases.
Refining preservation techniques through systematic testing and analysis, with a focus on increasing reliability and minimizing preservation-related damage.
Innovation in Practice
Innovation in Practice
Innovation in Practice
We operate a GE LightSpeed RT 16 x-ray CT scanner in-house to document and evaluate every new patient. High-resolution imaging verifies procedural outcomes, identifies structural details relevant to preservation quality, and produces data that support ongoing research and refinement of cryopreservation techniques.
Status: Patent granted Advanced therapeutic hypothermia system designed specifically for rapid cooling applications in preservation protocols.
Status: Patent pending Comprehensive mobile perfusion system that maintains laboratory-grade preservation capabilities in field deployment scenarios.
Status: patent pending Passive valve solution for managing liquid cooling effluent and perfusate
Status: patent granted Advanced multi-phase thermal management scheme for high-efficiency intermediate temperature storage systems
Yes. For decades, Alcor members have wanted to keep their assets after they were cryopreserved so that when they wake up in the future they will not only be alive but even have some money to help them better enjoy their future life. However, since retaining assets when you’re legally dead raises several novel issues, most lawyers and financial planners would either refuse to do it or would charge high fees to become acquainted with the legal issues involved and to develop a strategy that seemed likely to succeed.
There are now two available options to address this problem:
1. The Alcor Model Revocable Asset Preservation Trust is a model trust that members can take to their estate planner, financial planner, or attorney which could be used as a starting point for their own personalized Asset Preservation Trust. The Alcor Model Revocable Asset Preservation Trust provides clear answers to the legal concerns that lawyers and estate planners might have about how to handle the various issues that arise in dealing with preserving your assets and returning them to you when you are revived. The Trust requires a minimum of $500,000. This template trust is currently being rewritten. Inquire about the new trust.
2. The Multi-Investor Future Income Trust (MIFIT) is a vehicle for smaller investments, with a minimum of $25,000. This vehicle pools these smaller investments into a larger fund.
The cost of cryonics is similar to other complex medical procedures in wide use today. Like these procedures, cryonics is affordable to nearly everyone through insurance. The key, however, is having life insurance or other financial arrangements in place in advance of need. Most people could not afford heart surgery if suddenly faced with having to pay the full cost in cash. Cryonics is no different. The large sums required at the time of these procedures can be made affordable if appropriate steps are taken while one is still healthy.
There are two types of Alcor membership. You can become a member of Alcor by signing a membership agreement and paying dues. A cryopreservation member has approved funding in place and has signed a cryopreservation agreement.
Member
As a member, you get:
There is no requirement to have cryopreservation funding in place when joining Alcor. Membership allows you to lock the dues at the current rate while you seek funding to become a cryopreservation member. Enrollment in the membership can be done completely online!
Cryopreservation Member
Cryopreservation members must have approved funding in place and have filled out all Cryopreservation Member agreements. Most of the agreements can be completed online, but the Authorization to donate remains document which states your remains are coming to Alcor must be notarized (US Citizens only). Two witnesses are required, who are not family members, to sign the contracts. The Consent to be Cryopreserved and the Authorization to Donate Remains must be physically signed with ink. If you need assistance in completing these contracts, please contact the Membership Department.
CLICK HERE to start your membership application today!
Yes! Alcor has made provisions for every patient to permanently store one cubic foot box of items, to be returned upon revival. We encourage our patients to include journals, books, photos, CDs or DVDs etc., anything they might treasure in the future. The dimensions of the box are 15″ wide by 10″ tall by 18″ long.
The archival materials are sent to an underground storage facility in another state (Underground Vaults & Storage in Hutchinson, Kansas), which is kept at a constant 65 degrees F. The cost of permanent storage of one box is included with the cost of the cryopreservation procedure. Additional boxes may be stored for $250/box.
We take individual life insurance. Acceptable companies have an A Rating from the AM Best Rating system. This cannot be group or employer insurance.
We strongly advise against term insurance. If you do have term insurance, it must be a convertible policy.
We will need a scanned copy of the policy with written confirmation that Alcor is a beneficiary or collateral assignee to complete your Cryopreservation membership.
Alcor combines 24/7 medical readiness and in-house R&D with a dedicated Patient Care Trust that funds perpetual care. That integration of immediate capability, continuous innovation, and legally protected long-term stewardship sets us apart from other providers.
Alcor provides every member with an ID bracelet, ID necklace, and wallet card. These items have the member identification number and emergency instructions engraved upon them. Members that wear these identifiers improve their chances of a better cryopreservation.
In 1997, Alcor created an irrevocable Patient Care Trust. This trust was established to ensure the security of the funds allotted to the long-term care of Alcor’s patients. Using a conservative estimate, the funds should generate more than enough money to cover patient maintenance indefinitely.
Alcor places a large percentage of the cryopreservation payment into the Patient Care Trust. The Trust owns the building housing Alcor patients as well as a majority interest in the ownership of the building. The rest of the Trust investments are held at a major investment firm. Future growth of the Trust that sufficiently exceeds patient storage cost will be used to fund research into the technology of patient repair and resuscitation.
There is no age limit for Alcor membership, however, persons under the age of 18 must be signed up by their legal guardians.
Alcor advances new methods only after they’re validated and shown to be safe. Innovations are researched, tested, and introduced gradually with redundancies and monitoring, while core protocols remain standardized and audited, so improvements never compromise reliability.
The Patient Care Trust (PCT) is a separate, professionally managed trust that funds Alcor patients’ long-term care. A portion of each cryopreservation fee goes into the PCT; the principal is invested, and only the earnings pay for ongoing needs like liquid nitrogen, monitoring, and facility upkeep. Independent trustees oversee the fund to protect capital and ensure sustainability.
The Patient Care Trust is a separate legal entity established by Alcor in 1997 to manage and protect the long-term funding for cryopatients. Its primary purpose is to ensure that the funds allocated for the ongoing care and storage of cryopreserved patients are kept secure and used solely for that purpose. This provides an extra layer of protection and stability for patients to receive continued care far into the future.
Alcor’s long-term planning is fiscally conservative. Any excess funding also goes toward long-term care unless the member specifies otherwise. As a result, Alcor has more funding set aside per volume of patients under care than any other organization by a wide margin.
Alcor also segregates long-term care funds in the Patient Care Trust (PCT), which has a separate board of directors that oversees investments and ensures PCT funds are only used for long-term patient care. No other cryonics organization has this structure.
Alcor attempts to provide bedside standby service to all members in the U.S. and Canada. The purpose of standby is to begin stabilization and transport procedures immediately after clinical death, which is critical for an optimal outcome.
Alcor uses cryopreservation technology and solutions developed for medical applications by leading cryobiology researchers. The M22 vitrification solution used by Alcor is the product of decades of research in mainstream laboratories working to cryopreserve whole organs for organ banking. It incorporates numerous patented technologies that prevent ice formation, reduces toxicity, and eliminate chilling injuries. It was the first solution to ever permit the cryopreservation and subsequent long-term survival of a vital mammalian organ (kidney). M22 is a “6th generation” vitrification solution, incorporating ice blockers, chilling injury protection, and numerous other insights.
Alcor uses “closed circuit” perfusion, the same method of circulating fluids through the body used in heart surgery and organ cryopreservation research. This permits cryoprotectant to be introduced more gently, with better temperature control.
Yes. Many prominent insurance companies across the country are cooperating with Alcor to ensure your needs are met. Contact your insurance agent for a free quote.
