Grey Matter in the Freezer

Sterling progress is currently being made by scientists in the cryopreservation (very deep freezing usually using liquid nitrogen) of various organs in the body including the brain. This could pave the way to uses such as putting persons into suspended animation for space flights, or even for more brief utilisation such as when your neighbour is getting a bit carried away with his leaf blower again.

Slices of mouse brain kept for a period of days at -150°C have shown electrical activity near normal after being revived. Key to successful cryopreservation is avoiding the formation of ice crystals which destroy just about everything around them. Fully successful brain cryopreservation would also preserve delicate synapses that connect nerve cells while also leaving the memory function unfettered.

Once again our goodly scientists are taking their lead from the natural world. A small number of amphibians such as the humble brown tree frog already produce their own cyroprotectants to happily endure sub-zero temperatures. It is however proving difficult to refine cyroprotectants for use in human tissue because the necessary high concentrations can cause the swelling or shrinkage of cells. Not a problem for the tree frog of course because they have already had hundreds of thousands of years of practice.