Terms
Cryonics is the low-temperature freezing (usually at −196 °C or −320.8 °F or 77.1 K) and storage of a human corpse or severed head, with the speculative hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryopreservation (cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation) is a process where organelles, cells, tissues, extracellular matrix, organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage caused by unregulated chemical kinetics are preserved by cooling to very low temperatures (typically −80 °C or −193 °F using solid carbon dioxide or −196 °C or −320.8 °F using liquid nitrogen). At low enough temperatures, any enzymatic or chemical activity which might cause damage to the biological material in question is effectively stopped. Cryoprotectants are substances used to protect biological tissue from freezing damage (i.e. that due to ice formation).
