Alternative Options for Treating the Body After Death

If traditional burial or cremation not what you're looking for, there are a number of emerging and alternative options available today. We'll cover the following:

• Cryopreservation

• Mummification

• Resomation

Cryopreservation
By definition, Cryopreservation, or cryonics, is the process of freezing and storing the body of a recently deceased person to prevent tissue decomposition so that at some future time the person might be brought back to life upon development of new medical cures. With current technologies this process is not scientifically possible on humans. Only around 200 people have undergone the procedure since it was introduced in 1962.

Mummification
Mummification is believed to help the essence of the body transition into a new destination. An organization, Summum, introduced ‘Modern Mummification’ in 1975. Their process is meant to preserve the body and aid the body transition.

Summum uses chemicals to maintain the body’s natural look and leave the body submerged in a tank with preservation fluid for multiple months. The preservation techniques work so well that Summum claims that DNA will still be intact in the future.

Resomation
This alternative to traditional burial consists of dissolving the body using heat and pressure. The process lasts about three hours and after the process the remains include a brown, syrupy liquid and dust. The dust can be buried in a cemetery or kept with a loved one.

The process is as quick as traditional flame cremations, but without the environmentally harmful chemical emissions. Many industry experts claim resomation to be the next trend in the funeral industry because of its environmental benefits. The process has not caught on yet is because the public has not accepted this type of body treatment into their funeral wishes.

To read more about resomation, read this article from ABC News.