Woman Becomes First Person to Be Cryopreserved in China

August 15, 2017

Zhan Wenlian has become the first ever person to have ever gone through cryopreservation in China after passing away three months ago.

Forty-nine-year-old Zhan died around 4 a.m. on May 8 at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University in Easter China after battling lung cancer for more than one year. According to state newspaper Science and Technology Daily, her body was prepped 10 minutes later for cryopreservation at the Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute and her remains are preserved in liquid nitrogen at temperature minus 196 degrees Celsius.

The process took two days to complete, Sixth One said in its translation. The newspaper continued to note that the medical staff had to create an artificial way for her blood and water to circulate in the body between the time of her death and the operation. The staff also had to replace Zhan’s blood and water with antifreeze solution that will help prevent crystallizing even at extremely low temperatures.

It is unclear exactly how much cryopreservation can cost. Science and Technology Daily only mentioned the cost of liquid nitrogen which is around 50,000 yuan ($7,500) for every 10-15 days.

So far, the majority of the expenses are being covered by the institute, but no specific numbers have been given.

Gui Junmin, Zhan’s widower, is keeping his hopes up that this technology could one day bare fruit. “I trust this new technology — it’s entirely possible [that it can revive life],” he told the news outlet.

Image via Wikimeda Commons / Lab of Ralf Reski (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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