For $36,000, a Russian company promises 'eternal life'

A Russian company called KrioRus — located right outside of Moscow — wants to make the pain of losing a loved one a little bit more hopeful.

KrioRus is the first Russian cryonics project, which means they store human brains and bodies in freezing low-temperatures with the hope that one day it will be possible to resurrect the person.

KrioRus has 71 "patients," which is the term they use to refer to the brains and cadavers that float around in liquid nitrogen. They are stored at -320.8 degrees Fahrenheit in tall vats. The basis of cryonics is rooted in the idea that keeping body parts — especially brains — will allow the person to be revived fully intact, with the same personality, knowledge and thoughts as before they died.

Evgeny Alexandrov, the head of the Russian Academy of Science's Pseudoscience Commission, says that cryonics is really "an exclusively commercial undertaking that does not have any scientific basis."

Cryonics has been attacked by the medical and science communities for being fake or "quackery." Alexandrov continues, saying it's "a fantasy speculating on people's hopes of resurrection from the dead and dreams of eternal life."

But for those who believe in a future technology where this could be possible, it's a source of hope. KrioRus reports that hundreds of potential clients from nearly 20 countries have signed up for its after-death service.

Metro says that it costs $36,000 to freeze a whole body and $15,000 for the brain alone — but only for Russians, who earn average monthly salaries of $760, according to official statistics. Prices are slightly higher for non-Russians.