Vladimir Lenin, founder of the communist Soviet Union who died 97 years ago, can still be seen in the Moscow Mausoleum, looking not a day older than 50. Although Lenin’s organs have been removed, his body is still perfectly preserved. So how is this possible? How can this Communist leader - neatly resting in a black suit and a tie - not be waxwork, but rather the real person himself? All credit goes to the biomedical process of embalming.
Embalming is a process intended to preserve a body “to delay the breakdown of cells” after one has died and “temporarily helps prevent the processes that cause bodies to decay” (“What is Embalming?”). This process, prohibited in Jewish and Muslim funerals, has been used for thousands of years as a form of closure with the person that has died. Just like it was done with Lenin initially, this is meant to be a temporary process for family members and others to pay their respects and acquire a sense of comfort before saying goodbye (Whalley). However, the government finally decided to permanently preserve him in an expensive process that currently requires 13 million roubles a year - over $210,000 - to maintain.
During the embalming process, body fluids are drained and replaced with a mixture of preserving chemicals, “including formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, methanol, ethanol, and phenol, as well as water and colorants that reduce pallor and restore the appearance of the skin” (“What is Embalming?”).
Two main types:
Arterial embalming - removes blood through the veins and replaces it with embalming fluids through the arteries
Cavity embalming - removes the natural fluids inside the chest and abdomen
Cosmetologists then prepare the body by giving the person their natural appearance through proper attire, hairstyle, and makeup. Alongside Vladimir Putin, Mao Zedong (China), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Kim Il-Sung & Kim Jong II (North Korea) are all famous individuals whose embalmed bodies are on display as a remembrance of the power they once held (“Ten of the world's famous embalmed dead bodies on display”).
Another common type of preservation method is cryonics. Cryonics is the practice of preserving humans and animals down to liquid nitrogen temperatures with the intent to be restored in the future with advanced technology (Best). This process can be compared to our refrigerators and freezers, which are set at very cold temperatures in order to ensure that the food inside it doesn’t spoil by reducing the rate of biochemical degradation. So essentially, putting the body in low temperatures will cause the metabolic rate of the body to reduce (Best). The Soviet government initially considered cryonics for Lenin, but two chemists Vladimir Vorobyov and Boris Zbarsky suggested preservation by chemical enablement instead, claiming that the body would continue to rot even if kept at an extremely cold temperature (Whalley). Going back to the refrigerator/freezer analogy, just like food inside eventually spoils, the same can be said about the body. There is no guarantee that the body can be preserved indefinitely without rotting at some point.
There have indeed been embryos that have been revived after this extensive cryonic preservation process, but no humans as of now. On January 12th, 1967, Dr. James H. Bedford, a psychology professor, became the first man to be cryonically preserved in hopes that future technology will help revive him. There is this persistent belief among those in favor of cryonics that “irreversible death may be preventable” if the science field presents a shattering innovation that will help “revive these bodies and cure them of diseases that may have previously influenced their death” (Smith & Bianchi).
However, with such an unpredictable future for both embalming and cryonics, ethical concerns are sure to rise. Even if a person is pronounced legally dead, how can one ensure that the person has died an irreversible death? This process has been tested on other animals, but none of them have yet revived, so many companies are willing to offer this service for free (Roxby). Does it make sense for a company or the government (in Lenin’s case) to spend so much money on an uncertain process or allocate medical and social resources to a dead person? Is it fair for the rest of society? And per se, they run out of money to support and preserve the body, who should be to blame?
Now let’s say that a scientific miracle breaks through and the person is revived, could there be potentially risky side effects? Who would be financially and socially responsible to take care of the revived person then? Is it ethical to place the burden of someone’s entire life on a family member who did not sign up for it? Back to the Future showed us that living in a different generation altogether is not a walk in the park, so is it worth going through all of this if the person is unable to fit into society?
But then again, if there was a chance of being able to wake up in the future, would you be willing to take that leap? To put it in other words: should immortality be pursued at the potential cost of morality?
Works Cited
Best, Benjamin P. “Scientific justification of cryonics practice.” Rejuvenation research vol. 11,2
(2008): 493-503. doi:10.1089/rej.2008.0661
Jones, Kristie. “Ethical Issues of Cryonics.” Hospital News, 21 Dec. 2019, hospitalnews.com/ethical-
issues-of-cryonics/.
Roxby, Philippa. What Are the Ethics of Cryonic Preservation? 18 Nov. 2016,
www.bbc.com/news/health-38031428.
“Ten of the World's Famous Embalmed Dead Bodies on Display.” Stuff, 10 July 2019,
www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/114150522/ten-of-the-worlds-famous-embalmed-dead-bodies-on-
display.
Whalley, Zita. “The Upkeep on Vladimir Lenin's Corpse.” Culture Trip, The Culture Trip, 6 Apr.
2018, theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/the-upkeep-on-vladimir-lenins-corpse/.
“What Is Embalming? A Guide To The Embalming Process.” Funeral Guide, 1 Aug. 2019,
www.funeralguide.co.uk/help-resources/arranging-a-funeral/funeral-guides/what-is-embalming.