Will cryonics ever work?

[brucejoel99]

With current medical technology, no. In the future, maybe. The basic premise of cryonics as currently established is that we don't currently have the medical technology to revive these people, but we're gambling on the possibility that we will obtain such medical technology in the future because we just don't know what future medical technology will be like & what its capabilities will be. Developments in cryonics right now are focused on trying to limit cellular damage & preserve as many living-tissue features as possible in order to make it easier for the possibility that said damage can be reversed in the future, thus potentially allowing the subject to be revived. For instance, vitrification has now replaced mere freezing in order to limit damaging ice-crystal growth, because if you freeze fast-enough, then ice crystals won't have enough time to grow large enough to pierce the cell walls. Ensuring less damage now as a result of better-&-better cryopreservation techniques as they evolve may make it easier, if not likely for one who undergoes the process to be revived in the future.

[brucejoel99]

Seems more likely our rich folk (at first, it will work it's way down to everyone in time, just like A/C, color TV and disc brakes) will be staying alive indefinitely using various life extending technologies.