All articles tagged with #cryopreservation
Wood frogs can freeze about 65% of their body water as extracellular ice each winter, stopping heartbeat and breathing for months; they survive by keeping cells intact, then thaw and restart life in spring, aided by high blood glucose that acts as a natural cryoprotectant—researchers hope to apply this to organ banking and cryopreservation.
In a proof-of-principle trial, researchers transplanted cryopreserved prepubertal testicular tissue back into a man who had high-dose chemotherapy as a child; two grafts formed mature sperm, which were collected and frozen, marking the first time this approach restored sperm production in an adult and offering hope for biological children in childhood cancer survivors. The findings appear in a preprint and have not yet been peer‑reviewed, and UK trials are expanding the work with hundreds of patients potentially benefiting.
Researchers at Texas A&M say tuning the temperature at which tissues enter a glass-like state during vitrification can dramatically reduce cracking in frozen organs, a breakthrough that could enable storing organs for on-demand transplants and support broader uses in conservation and biomedical research.
Scientists thawed a 24,000-year-old rotifer from Siberia's permafrost, reviving it and enabling asexual reproduction, showing multicellular animals can survive cryptobiosis for millennia; the finding highlights both the potential of cryopreservation and the health risks posed by revived ancient microbes as permafrost thaws.
German researchers revived mouse hippocampal tissue after vitrification at −196°C, showing neurons and synapses could function again after rewarming. While this demonstrates greater tolerance of brain tissue to cryogenic states and fuels discussion of human hibernation for long‑distance space travel, translating the finding to whole bodies or people remains far off and will require larger animal studies, improved cooling/rewarming techniques, and sustained funding; a spin‑off partner is pursuing post‑death neural cryopreservation for research.
Biogerontologist L. Stephen Coles’ brain was cryopreserved after death and stored for over a decade at -146°C. Greg Fahy later biopsied the preserved tissue and found the fragments to be surprisingly well preserved, suggesting future studies might learn from the brain; however, experts caution the brain is not alive and revival remains unproven, with a peer‑reviewed report still forthcoming.
German researchers vitrified 350-micron mouse brain slices, cooled them to -320°F, and after thawing found intact neuronal membranes and preserved hippocampal long-term potentiation, with neurons still responsive to stimulation, suggesting brain function can resume after complete molecular shutdown and opening a path to organ preservation and potential cryopreservation of whole mammals, though translating this to humans and larger organs will require improved vitrification, cooling, and rewarming techniques.
German researchers demonstrated vitrification-based cryopreservation of mouse brains, preserving tissue structure and neuronal activity enough for near-normal electrical responses and hippocampal long-term potentiation after thawing; whole brains were kept in a glass-like state at -140°C for up to eight days, yet linking preserved activity to memories and translating the approach to larger organs or human brains remains uncertain and technically challenging.
German researchers vitrified thin mouse brain slices containing the hippocampus, then thawed them rapidly to reveal intact neural connections, active mitochondria, and responsive neurons, with evidence of long-term potentiation. They also tested preserving an entire mouse brain by circulating cryoprotectants, but viability was limited to hours and memory retention was not assessed. While the results hint at medical benefits such as slowing injury-related damage and enabling organ storage, the approach is early-stage and far from reviving whole brains or memories.
Scientists chilled mouse hippocampal slices to a vitrified, glasslike state and stored them at −150°C for seven days before carefully warming them. When thawed, the tissue showed spontaneous synaptic activity and preserved neural structures, indicating functional recovery after extended freezing and suggesting vitrified suspended states can preserve neural circuitry in brain tissue (though this does not demonstrate memory preservation or viability of whole brains).
German researchers demonstrate that ice-free vitrification can preserve and recover functional activity in mouse brain slices (including hippocampus) after thawing, with intact membranes, preserved mitochondrial activity, near-normal neuronal responses and lasting long-term potentiation for hours. While this marks the first demonstration of revived activity in frozen brain tissue, full brain function restoration and large-scale organ preservation remain out of reach due to ice-crystal damage, osmotic stress and cryoprotectant toxicity; the work hints at potential future applications in disease protection, organ banking and even whole-body cryopreservation, but is limited to slices and short observation windows.
Scientists in Australia are working to cryopreserve the shoot tips of the critically endangered angle-stemmed myrtle to preserve its DNA and potentially revive the species in the future, amid threats like habitat loss, climate change, and myrtle rust disease.
A study involving mice cells sent to the International Space Station for six months suggests that spaceflight does not impair the viability of germ cells, opening possibilities for future reproductive technologies in space, although human reproduction in space remains largely untested and requires further research.
A survey of 312 neuroscientists suggests that most believe memories have a physical basis, stored in neural connections, and there is about a 40% chance that future technology could extract memories from preserved brains and emulate human consciousness, though significant scientific challenges remain.
Researchers are making strides in cryopreserving coral, with successful freezing of larvae and recent survival of frozen adult corals, offering hope for preserving and restoring reefs in the face of climate change and other threats. While challenges remain, such as limited collection windows and post-thaw bacterial infections, scientists are exploring solutions like antibiotics and even storing frozen samples on the moon. With coral reefs declining, cryopreservation offers a potential lifeline for future restoration efforts.