In the 1992 blockbuster, Encino Man, two high school students discover a frozen caveman in their garden, before thawing him out and introducing him to modern life.
Now, the bizarre plot has become a reality – with a 46,000-year-old frozen worm.
In a landmark study published last month, experts managed to ‘resurrect’ a group of long extinct roundworms after thawing the ice that had imprisoned them since the era of woolly mammoths.
While these worms underwent a state of hibernation impossible for humans, their revival raises a scary prospect: will we soon have an ‘Encino Man’ of our own?
With hundreds of corpses frozen in labs around the world, one cryonics expert believes it may just be 50 years before technology enables them to walk among us once again.
In the 1992 blockbuster, Encino Man, two high school students discover a frozen caveman in their garden, before thawing him out and introducing him to modern life
Valeriya Udalova is the CEO of KrioRus, which claims to host 94 frozen corpses at its cryopreservation base in Russia’s capital.
Humans cannot undergo the hibernation-like state – presenting a major challenge for cryonicists
Most of the bodies are those of Russian nationals, though almost a third have come from various countries across the world including Britain, France and the US.
While many opt to freeze their entire body for $46,000 (£36,273), others have chosen to preserve just their brain or head at a cheaper deal of $11,000 (£8,674).
These have sat within the lab’s giant chambers since the early 2000’s, as scientists await technological advances that will one day resurrect them – just like the roundworms.
Last month’s research revealed that the long-extinct Panagrolaimus kolymaensis underwent a dormant state known as ‘anabiosis’ in which the body shuts down until bodily processes are completely undetectable.
This characteristic enabled the ancient worms to survive winter after winter in the midst of harsh Siberian temperatures.
But unlike these prehistoric wrigglers, humans cannot undergo the hibernation-like state – presenting a major challenge for cryonicists.
‘Many animals can go into anabiosis, some can freeze and thaw. For example, worms, frogs, Siberian anglerfish,’ Ms Udalova told MailOnline.
Cryopreservation refers to the deep freezing of a body to -196°C (-321°F) – the point of liquid nitrogen
Last month, experts managed ‘resurrect’ the group of long extinct roundworms after thawing the ice that had imprisoned them since the era of woolly mammoths
Cryonpreservation is the deep freezing of a body to – 196°C (-321°F). Anti-freeze compounds are injected into the corpse to stop cells being damaged
‘But humans are not like that. Frogs, for example, have a lot of glycerol in their bodies and we don’t.
‘I don’t think that human metabolism can be radically restructured so that we also go into anabiosis like animals. It’s probably easier to create new, artificial bodies.’
The cryptoreservation of humans takes a completely different approach as a result of these stark differences.
At KrioRus, a surgical procedure is first performed to drain a human of blood before their body is connected to a new circulatory system pumped with ‘cryoprotectant solutions’.
Generally, these refer to anti-freeze chemicals like ethylene glycol which are often used to protect intact cells and tissues in other areas of scientific research.
Meanwhile, bodies are cooled to an eventual peak of -196°C (-321°F) and will remain in chambers until new technology arises.
But this is far from simple, as the very chemicals used to preserve these bodies can also be toxic with prolonged exposure.
The eventual cooling of frozen organs can also result in life-threatening fractures if melt rates are not consistent across the body.
Huge advancements in tissue engineering and medicine would be required to resurrect frozen bodies as a result, which many believe is a distant reality and even a ‘false hope’.
Dennis Kowalski , President of the US-based Cyronics Institute believes it may be ‘100s of years’ before frozen humans are resurrected
Pictured: A recreation of Ötzi the iceman who was discovered in the Italian Alps during 1991
WHO WAS ÖTZI THE ICEMAN?
High in the Italian Alps 5,300 years ago, Ötzi the iceman was shot in the back with an arrow and likely bled to death within minutes.
Having collapsed in the ice, his body was then preserved until it was discovered in 1991 — making him Europe’s oldest mummy.
Mystery and intrigue has followed ever since – including research into who might have killed him – and fresh secrets continue to be unlocked.
Scientists have since discovered that Ötzi was wearing a hat made from a brown bear when he died.
His coat was made from a combination of at least four hides from two species – goat and sheep.
Mystery and intrigue surrounds Ötzi the iceman who was discovered in the Italian Alps in 1991
But Ms Udalova boldly claims that technology such as this could arise within the next 50 to 70 years despite the chronic underfunding of cryonics.
She doesn’t deny that cavemen could even be encompassed in this, following the discovery of Ötzi the iceman in the Italian Alps during 1991.
‘Rapid development of cryobiology of large objects – organs and animals – is hindered by extremely low funding of this branch of science,’ she continued.
‘Cryobiological laboratories are few, there are no large ones at all. Even the famous laboratory “XXI Century Medicine” is a small organization.
‘But even in such a deplorable situation, remarkable experiments have already been made, for example, on reversible cryopreservation of a rat kidney using gas persufflation with nanoparticles and induction heating.’
Meanwhile, Dennis Kowalski, President of the US-based Cyronics Institute believes it may be ‘100s of years’ before frozen humans are resurrected.
His cryopreservation base in Michigan hosts 243 patients and nearly the same amount of pets, with 2,000 others signed up to be involved.
‘We suspect that advancements in Stem cell tissue regeneration, AI, Genetics, and nanorobotics will all push the boundaries of what is very hard to do today into the routine of the future,’ he told MailOnline.
‘We see evidence of this all the time but take these advancements for granted. CPR with defibrillation and organ transplant were once considered impossible or even shunned but today these technologies routinely save lives.
‘It is the bridge of time or an ambulance ride to a future hospital that may likely exist.
‘It may take 100s of years but with our process and endowment funding we have the time to wait and see what is possible.’