Re: What is Cryobiology, how is it performed, what are the steps?

 According to The Institute for Neural Cryobiology, Cryobiology is the 
study of life and its constituents below its normal living temperature - 
including cryogenic temperatures (below -80'C). The final goal of 
cryobiology would of course be the ability to freeze living organisms to 
cryogenic temperatures, at which their storage time becomes indefinite, 
and than posteriorly re-warm them, bringing them back to life with minimal 
damage. Several factors make this impossible, and for all but the smallest 
single celled organisms, cryopreservation means the total destruction of 
cells, as ice crystals grow inside them and puncture the cell membranes. 
For organs and organisms as a whole the problem becomes even greater 
because the molecular meshes that support fine blood vessels and the 
molecular docking devices that hold cells in tight contact with each other 
are also damaged. Below 90C the organs also tend to become extremely 
brittle and crack. Great advances have occurred in this field and now we 
are able to preserve cells by preventing freezing altogether, using a 
special kind of antifreeze that vitrifies the liquid inside them 
(incidentally, this is the way nature has evolved to allow artic water 
fish and certain amphibians to survive harsh winters). However there are 
still problems with the process, and to date no large animals have ever 
been successfully thawed with this technique. In fact the priority right 
now is to preserve organs for transplants.

 You will find more information and the Institute's website: http://www.neurocryo.org/organ-cryopreservation.html

 Sam Barros
 http://www.powerlabs.org