Find answers to the most common questions about cryonics, our procedures, and membership with Alcor.
Select a Category
In September of 1970, Linda and Fred Chamberlain, the founders of Alcor believed that people would someday travel to the stars. Fred searched through star catalogs and astronomy books, hoping to find a star that could serve as a fitting name for a cryonics organization. Alcor, a dim star near the bright star Mizar, has been used for centuries as a test for good eyesight. If you can see the goals and purpose of Alcor, you have excellent focus and vision.
You are always welcome to schedule a tour or visit Alcor’s facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. Please contact us for more information.
Alcor is a 501(c)(3) scientific and educational non-profit organization. To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may benefit any private shareholder or individual. Non-profit organizations do not have shareholders who would be able to change Alcor’s Mission Statement to a purpose other than the benefit of the patients.
Alcor cannot give tax advice. We encourage you to speak with a tax professional concerning what may be deducted from your taxable income. Alcor is a non-profit, federally tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) corporation.
The sooner cryopreservation is started, the better the expected outcome. Cryonics procedures should ideally begin within the first one or two minutes after the heart stops, after pronouncement of legal death, and preferably within 15 minutes. Longer delays place a greater burden on future technology to reverse injury and restore the brain to a healthy state. This makes it more uncertain that the correct original state can be determined. Exactly when such restoration is no longer feasible is a matter of some debate. The greatest impact of delay is that it degrades the circulatory system, reducing the ability to circulate chemicals that reduce freezing injury.
The short answer is “Alcor will revive them.”
The third item in Alcor’s mission statement is: “Eventually restore to health and reintegrate into society all patients in Alcor’s care.”
The Alcor Care Trust, which is responsible for funding revival, grows in real value over time — compound interest should eventually produce sufficient assets to cover the costs of revival. At the same time, as technology progresses the cost of reviving patients should decrease over time. Eventually, the increasing funds available in the ACT should be sufficient to pay the costs of reviving and reintegrating patients into society. Even at 3% return, assets will increase by around 1600% over a century.
Socially, Alcor is a community. Some members of this community are alive and healthy, while others have been cryopreserved. This community forms an interconnected network of friendships and close ties. At any point in time the healthy members of this network have friends, relatives and loved ones in cryopreservation and will seek to revive them. Once revived, those members will in turn have other friends in cryopreservation, and they will in turn seek to revive them.
The plan is not for “them” to revive us. The plan is that we, the Alcor community, will revive ourselves.
It is unlikely that all patients will be revived at the same time. Those cryopreserved with more advanced preservation technology will probably be revived earlier than those with less advanced methods. Patients who were in a more damaged condition may not be revived until after patients with less damage. The date of attempted revival will depend not only on individual patient condition and the level of technology used when cryopreserved but also on the pace at which cryonics-related technologies improve.
Eventually, a time may come when revival technology will be perfected. In other words, it may be possible to routinely cryopreserve and revive people for medical time travel, space travel, and other purposes. As progress continues, it may then become possible to recover people preserved at earlier times, with less perfect methods and greater degrees of injury.
Some think it will take centuries before patients can be revived, while others think the accelerating pace of technological change might so rapidly transform our world that decades would suffice. Alcor has created robust mechanisms to care for the patients in its care for however long it may take.
Embryos are frequently cryopreserved and can remain viable upon rewarming. At this point in time, no person developed beyond the embryo stage has been revived from temperatures far below freezing. Cryonics patients are cared for in the expectation that future technology will be available to reverse damage associated with the cryopreservation process. As an important proof of concept, rabbit kidneys have been cryopreserved, rewarmed, and implanted into the animal and continued to function.
No.
Alcor must wait for an independent authority to declare that illness or injury has caused the heart to stop, that further medical care is not appropriate, and that therefore legal death has occurred. Only after that determination is made can the cryopreservation procedures legally begin.
Some states within the US and some countries have Death with Dignity laws. These arrangements must be made with your medical provider within their detailed criteria and requirements. Alcor will work with you if you choose to make this decision for yourself. Alcor members have utilized death with dignity and were successfully cryopreserved after legal death.
There is no point in prolonging life if the result will be illness and debilitation. People are now living longer, healthier lives than their grandparents, and their children will live longer still. Eventually, aging itself will be a treatable, reversible condition as medicine attains full control of the human body at the molecular level. By the time it becomes possible to revive cryonics patients, especially today’s cryonics patients, biological aging as we know it today will not exist. In the 19th century, 30% of people living in Paris died of “consumption.” Today very few people in the industrialized world even knows what “consumption” is.
Donations make a real difference, and we’re truly grateful for your support. You can give a one-time or recurring gift at https://www.alcor.org/donate and choose to direct it specifically to research. If you have questions or are considering a larger gift, please reach out at [email protected] or 623-432-7775.
Yes. Alcor engages with universities, medical centers, and independent labs on studies in cryopreservation, vitrification chemistry, perfusion protocols, ischemia mitigation, and post-preservation assessment.
Continuous research sharpens every stage of care, from faster stabilization to better long-term preservation. R&D yields:
Electricity is not required for Alcor’s patient care system. Liquid nitrogen is used to keep cryonics patients cold, not electricity. While in a liquid state, liquid nitrogen maintains temperature at -195.8 °C (−320 °F). The insulated containers where the patients are stored, called dewars, can maintain temperature for up to 6 months in case of an emergency.
Liquid nitrogen is refilled once per week to keep all dewars and the bulk nitrogen tank topped off.
Cryonics (from Greek kryos meaning icy cold) is the low-temperature preservation of humans who can no longer be sustained by today’s medicine, in the expectation they can be healed and resuscitated in the future using more advanced medical technologies. Cryopreservation of people is not reversible with current technology and is only practiced following pronouncement of legal death. The rationale for cryonics is that cryopreserved patients may retain sufficient biological and neurological structure to be restored to full physical and mental health using advanced future technologies.
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!
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’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.
There is no age limit for Alcor membership, however, persons under the age of 18 must be signed up by their legal guardians.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
While we work in close coordination with Alcor US, Alcor Canada was established as a separate non-profit organization to address the unique needs of Canadian members. This includes navigating Canadian regulations, building relationships with local medical communities, and developing Canada-specific research initiatives. After initial procedures in Canada, patients are transported to Alcor’s facility in Scottsdale, Arizona for long-term care.
The Canadian DART team strategically maintains equipment and personnel across different regions of Canada to minimize response times. Our geographic distribution allows us to reach most major Canadian cities within hours, providing the critical rapid response needed for optimal preservation outcomes.
Yes. Alcor Canada works with Canadian citizens wherever they may be located. We can assist with arrangements for Canadian citizens living abroad and coordinate with Alcor US or other international teams if needed. We also provide guidance on navigating the legal and logistical considerations specific to Canadian citizens, regardless of their current residence.
When established, European members will experience even faster response times with a local DART team, proximity to their long-term care facility, and the comfort of having their cryopreservation services managed within their region. The European facility will also make it easier for European family members to visit.
Alcor Europe will maintain the same high standards and protocols established by Alcor in the United States. While adapting to European regulatory frameworks, the core scientific approach and member services will remain consistent. The European entity will have a board comprised primarily of Europeans to ensure cultural relevance and regional expertise.
DART (Deployment and Recovery Team) is Alcor’s rapid-response team that manages standby, stabilization, and transport for members approaching clinical death. The European DART team will consist of specially trained medical professionals and personnel from various European countries, enabling faster deployment throughout Europe. Team members will receive the same rigorous training as their North American counterparts.
Alcor sets itself apart from other cryonics organizations globally through several key features:
Yes, this is possible for non-Lifetime Members; Alcor can and has increased dues in the past under the previous model and agreement. Alcor’s aims to minimize the potential of increasing dues for Members in the future by growing our Membership, resulting in overall dues revenue increases.
Existing discounts will be grandfathered if a current Member signs a new agreement in the calendar year 2022; however, discounts will not be offered with Age-Based Dues. The dues structure incorporates lower dues for students and saves students more money each year they remain a Member. For example, if Suzy signs up when she is 18 years old and pays $200 in dues, she pays less than the previous student discount. Additionally, as Suzy gets older and time passes, her $200 in dues will be less financially burdensome years or decades from now due to inflation and increased wages.
Alcor is a federally tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) corporation, and your dues may be tax-deductible. Any time you want to review Alcor’s tax status, you can visit the IRS’s website at https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ and enter our EIN 23-7154039. Dues and donations may be tax-deductible if they are made before the close of the tax year. Alcor cannot give tax advice, so we encourage you to speak with a tax professional regarding your dues and taxable income.
The most effective way of reducing delays and getting the highest quality cryopreservation is to relocate near Alcor. You should communicate clearly with Alcor about all upcoming medical procedures and current health problems/diagnoses, and make sure your healthcare providers are aware of your cryopreservation plans. Alcor has an emergency instruction sheet that can be given to your healthcare provider when appropriate.
When you select options in the Alcor Cryopreservation Agreement, you will be asked to state your preference if cryopreservation turns out to be impossible (for instance, if you should be involved in a disaster where no human remains can be recovered — Alcor tragically lost members in the World Trade Center collapse, and no remains were recovered).
One option you may select is to name a secondary beneficiary for your life insurance, assuming you are funding yourself with a life insurance policy. The secondary beneficiary will receive the face value of the policy after your legal death if the first beneficiary (Alcor) is not eligible. However, this does entail some risk if your beneficiary is not supportive of your cryopreservation agreement with Alcor.
Some members want all their cryopreservation resources focused on recovering any biological remains whatsoever, regardless of the degree of damage or time elapsed. This is a highly personal decision, and one each member must make individually.
If a person is incinerated and all that remains are ashes, they are not going to be revivable with any future technology. Short of that, opinions vary due to different views of which structures are essential to the person and how much structure can be inferred from what remains.
But there is no line past which we can confidently declare: “This is the point beyond which we will not try.” Alcor leaves this decision up to the member.
The non-preserved portion of the body after neuropreservation is handled in accordance with the member’s wishes. Members usually select cremation, which is covered by the cost of the cryopreservation.
Not exactly. “Freezing” implies ice crystal formation that damages cells and tissues. Modern cryopreservation (as practiced by Alcor) uses cryoprotectants and controlled cooling to achieve vitrification, a glass-like state with little to no ice, significantly reducing ice damage. In everyday speech, people say “frozen,” but technically, vitrified tissue isn’t simply frozen.
A cryoprotectant is a small molecule that easily penetrates cells and lowers the freezing point of water. Alcor uses an advanced cryoprotectant called M22.
In cryonics, cryoprotectant solutions are circulated through the patient’s vascular system near 0 °C over several hours, gradually replacing more than half of the water inside cells with cryoprotectant. Living cells can survive this process when introduction and removal are done at low temperatures.
Alcor’s patients are kept in liquid nitrogen, which is very cold (-196C/-320F). To prevent both the patient and the liquid nitrogen from warming up, they are kept in a giant stainless steel thermos bottle called a Dewar. A vacuum and reflective surface between the inner and outer layers prevent heat from entering. This concept was invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892 and has been used ever since both by campers and scientists to keep hot things hot and cold things cold. No electricity is needed to maintain the temperature.
Once a Dewar is fully loaded with liquid nitrogen it can keep its contents cold for three months or more without any active support. Alcor tops off its Dewars once a week to be extra-conservative.
The lower the temperature, the slower the speed of metabolic processes. At the cryogenic temperatures used by Alcor, essentially all metabolic activity ceases. Without metabolic activity, tissue is not degrading, allowing for decades or centuries in the preserved state.
When the tissue is slowly cooled, ice first forms between cells. The growing ice crystals increase the concentration of solutes in the remaining liquid around them, causing water to be pulled from the cell through a process called osmotic dehydration. If cryoprotectants are present, the freezing point of the unfrozen solution drops sooner and faster, limiting the total amount of ice that forms. As the temperature drops below -40°C, the cryoprotectant concentration becomes so high in the remaining unfrozen solution that ice stops growing. Cells survive suspended in the residual unfrozen liquid between ice crystals. As the temperature drops below about -100°C, this unfrozen solution containing the cells becomes a glassy solid. This is called vitrification.
Molecular nanotechnology is an emerging technology for manufacturing and manipulating matter at the molecular level. The concept was first suggested by Richard Feynman in 1959. The theoretical foundations of molecular nanotechnology were developed by K. Eric Drexler, Ralph Merkle, and others in the 1980s and 1990s. More recently the future medical applications of nanotechnology have been explored in detail by Robert Freitas in his books, Nanomedicine Vol. I (Basic Capabilities) and Nanomedicine Vol. IIA (Biocompatibility). These scientists have concluded that the mid to late 21st century will bring an explosion of amazing capabilities for analyzing and repairing injured cells and tissues, similar to the information processing revolution that is now occurring. These capabilities will include means for repairing and regenerating tissue after almost any injury provided that certain basic information remains intact. A non-technical overview of nanotechnology, including an excellent chapter on cryonics (“biostasis”), is available in Eric Drexler’s book, Engines of Creation.
Alcor maintains its leadership in the field of cryonics by:
Yes.
Pet preservation services are available for Basic and Cryopreservation members of Alcor. Just like with human patients, a large portion of the cost goes into the Patient Care Trust which covers perpetual storage and eventually revival research.
The cost of preservation is based on the size of the pet. For the best estimate of the price, fill out the Pet Quote Request Form with your pet’s measurements.
The first step is to contact Alcor immediately for guidance on the next steps. Alcor will provide instructions for proper handling, cooling, and transportation of your pet to their facility to maximize preservation quality. Please do not ship your pet without first speaking with Alcor staff and following protocols.
No. Alcor is unable to accept walk-ins for pet cryopreservation. Please contact us in advance so we can guide you through the process and ensure the best possible care for your pet.
Small roundworms (nematodes) and possibly some insects can survive temperatures below -100°C. However, since scientists are still struggling to cryopreserve many individual organs, no large animal has ever been cryopreserved and revived. Such an achievement is still likely decades in the future. There has been a success with single organs being cryopreserved and rewarmed prior to transplant in an animal model.
Frogs, turtles, and some other animals can survive “freezing” at temperatures a few degrees below 0°C. These animals have frozen in the sense that significant fractions of their body water convert to ice. However, they are not truly cryopreserved. The fluid between ice crystals is still liquid, chemistry is slowed, not stopped, and the state can only be sustained for a few months. If these animals were cooled to temperatures required for true long-term stability (i.e. below the glass transition temperature) they would not survive.
Currently, Alcor does not allow visits to individual pets after cryopreservation, as the storage area is strictly controlled to maintain safety and security. However, you can contact Alcor at any time for general updates about your pet’s status in storage.
Your pet is securely stored in a state-of-the-art cryogenic dewar filled with liquid nitrogen at -196°C. The facility is monitored 24/7, and liquid nitrogen levels are checked and replenished regularly by trained staff. Robust security systems and backup procedures are in place to address emergencies or equipment failures.
Here are 5 ways you can prepare in advance:
Alcor’s DART team is available 24/7 and can mobilize quickly in response to an emergency. For members located within North America, the team can often be dispatched within hours and usually arrives the same day. For international members, response times depend on travel logistics, but Alcor prioritizes immediate deployment and coordinates with local resources to ensure timely care.
