Cryopreservation

In good news for future animation figureheads, there might be a new way to revive frozen brains without damaging them. Scientists in China have developed a new chemical concoction that lets brain tissue function again after being frozen.

Scientists have performed the first successful transplant of an organ that had been cryogenically frozen and rewarmed. Rats that were given transplants of kidneys preserved through a new technique regained regular organ function within weeks.

Getting an organ from donor to recipient is a race against time, with many going to waste. Now, researchers in Australia have identified new cryoprotectants that could preserve organs and tissues for much longer without damaging them.

We all learned in elementary school science that water freezes at 0 °C – but it’s actually not quite that simple. New experiments have shown that tiny droplets can remain liquid right down to -44 °C, if kept in contact with a soft surface.

Freezing is one of the simplest methods of preserving food, biological tissue and other perishables, but the formation of ice crystals can damage cells. Now, researchers have developed a new way to “supercool” water in a liquid form well below the usual freezing point.

Two worms frozen in the Siberian permafrost for around 40,000 years have now been thawed and revived, making them the oldest living creatures on the planet and the first multicellular organisms to have survived such long-term cryobiosis.

While deep-freezing techniques exist to preserve organs for long periods of time, the tissue can get damaged when being reheated, making it an impractical solution for transplants. Researchers at the University of Minnesota believe they've solved this problem thanks to tiny microscopic particles.