Conventional cryopreservation techniques use organic solvents such as glycerol and dimethyl sulfoxide to preserve cells in suspension. Nature does things differently, by using specialist macromolecules such as Ice Binding Proteins, Antifreeze Glycoproteins, to control ice growth and mitigate cellular damage at sub zero temperatures.
At the University of Warwick we developed synthetic Macromolecular Cryoprotectants – polymers which dramatically improve cell cryopreservation by mimicking some functions of natural antifreeze proteins. These cryoprotectants protect the cell membrane during freezing. In addition to replacing the majority of solvent based cryoprotectants needed, they can, uniquely, preserve cells in an adherent format.
We are using our macromolecular cryoprotectants to transform how cells are used in research.
