First-of-its-kind method cryopreserves fruit fly embryos in liquid nitrogen
Cryopreservation, or the long-term storage of biomaterials at ultralow temperatures, has been used across cell types and species. However, until now, the practical cryopreservation of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)-;which is crucial to genetics research and critical to scientific breakthroughs benefiting human health-;has not been available. To keep alive the ever-increasing number of fruit flies with unique genotypes that aid in these breakthroughs, some 160,000 different flies, laboratories and stock centers engage in the costly and frequent transfer of adults to fresh food, risking contamination and genetic drift, said Li Zhan, a mechanical engineering postdoctoral associate with the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering and the Center for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio).
New method preserves viable fruit fly embryos in liquid nitrogen eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
University of Minnesota to host new Organ and Tissue Preservation Center
The University of Minnesota is one of two institutions in the United States to host a new center established by the Biostasis Research Institute (BRI) aimed at creating human organ banks through the cryogenic storage of organs donated for transplantation.
BRI is launching and funding the Organ and Tissue Preservation Center at the U of M, which will focus on technologies to safely and rapidly rewarm cryopreserved organs and other living systems. This center will be housed within the U of M Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM) and will be led by IEM Director John Bischof and Medical School Department of Surgery faculty member Erik Finger.
Donor Network West Joins Four Other Organ Procurement Organizations as a Founding Member to Fund the Launch of the Biostasis Research Institute nevadabusiness.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nevadabusiness.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Launched on Wednesday (21
st April), BRI said the centres will develop new technologies to store tissues, organs, and whole organisms for biomedical research as part of a larger “Apollo Program” in cryopreservation and suspended animation.
The first new research centre, the Center for Biostasis at Massachusetts General Hospital, will create and apply new technologies to control ice formation at sub-freezing temperatures and condition living systems to undergo extreme temperature changes.
BRI said the centre will be housed at the largest Harvard-affiliated research hospital and led by Drs. Mehmet Toner, Korkut Uygun, and Shannon Tessier.
The second research centre, the Organ and Tissue Preservation Center at the University of Minnesota, will focus on technologies to safely and rapidly rewarm cryopreserved organs and other living systems.