Less Dead

Nectome has unveiled 'Less Dead,' a radical new approach to human preservation that aims to capture the complete biological blueprint needed for potential future revival. The protocol uses fixatives to create molecular crosslinks, preserving every neuron, synapse, protein, lipid, and nucleic acid throughout the entire body at nanoscale resolution. Critically, the method is stable for months at room temperature—making it compatible with traditional funeral practices—and can remain preserved for centuries when cooled. This represents a fundamental shift from traditional cryonics, which relies on extreme cold and cryoprotectants that can damage cellular structures through osmotic effects.

Unlike emergency-response cryonics organizations, Nectome's procedure must be planned and initiated within a strict 12-minute window after legal death to achieve high-fidelity preservation. The company has validated its approach by winning the Large Mammal Brain Preservation Prize from the Brain Preservation Foundation, which involved rigorous examination of preserved synapses across multiple brain regions. While revival technology doesn't yet exist, Nectome argues their method preserves all the structural information future technologies would need, whether for biological restoration or mind uploading. The company is now offering limited pre-sales, positioning 'Less Dead' as a scientifically-verifiable alternative to what founder Aurelia calls the 'Pascal's Wager' of traditional cryonics.